Yoel smiled. "What a pleasure to be getting a 'thank you' from you.""As long as you stop saying nonsense, I will still be polite to you. After all, I'm someone with good manners." Sage unscrewed the cap, tilted her head back, and drank deeply from the bottle. The tilt of her head exposed her graceful neck, and Yoel was once again struck by her beauty."It's almost lunchtime. Are you hungry? Let me buy you lunch."After finishing the remaining water, Sage replied, "Let me buy you a meal instead."Since Yoel had planned to give her a horse, Sage wanted to repay him by buying him a meal."Sage brought Yoel to a famous Japanese restaurant in town. As it was lunchtime, there was a long queue of customers waiting in line. "They're doing really well, aren't they? I've been wanting to try this place, but I heard that they don't accept reservations and only serve a limited number of customers every day. However, I'm not sure if their food is as good as people say."Yoel sighed and wa
Hearing Sage mention the word 'us', Yoel felt his heart skip a beat but he did not get carried away."This is a big decision to make, please allow me to discuss this with my father."Sage nodded. "Of course."Looking up at her, Yoel said, "Would it be too risky for both of us to be working on such a big project? I suppose that the early investment would not be a small amount.""You're right. I only asked you to invest in the venture after I had taken into consideration the financial situation of the Fultons; however, if you think that it is too risky a venture with only the two of us, then you may bring another person on board." Yoel's eyes lit up. "What about Jace—""Anyone except Jace Yuriel." Sage knew exactly what Yoel was going to say, and she rejected his suggestion without hesitation.Yoel asked, "But why? We are talking business, right? Whether it's the location or economic power, Yuriel Group is our best option. Plus, Jace is interested in this project, too."Sage loo
Speak of the devil. Myles Damian had turned up with a plate of tempura. Dressed in his chef's uniform, Myles greeted Sage politely, "I heard that you're here so I'm here to say hello.""You don't have to be this formal around me," Sage said, "I've told you so many times."All smiles, Myles replied, "I still ought to be polite to you. You're my senior after all."Yoel dropped his chopsticks. His jaw dropped as he stared at Myles. Myles looked to be in his forties. "What did you say? She's your senior?""Yeah." Putting down the plate of tempura on the table, Myles added, "Sage is my grandfather's pupil and my father's junior. Of course, she would be my senior, right, Sage?"Sage smiled lovingly at him. "Yeah."Yoel was speechless.'What did I just witness?’ thought Yoel to himself.Yoel still thought that Sage and Myles were still playing a joke on him. Looking at Myles, Yoel asked, "Chef Damian, I thought that there was a rule in your family that only allowed men to apprentice."
As soon as he had reached Nadeem City, Jace had been bombarded with texts from Yoel. He was puzzled as he went through the texts back in his office. 'What does Sage have to do with Chef Myles Damian and the Damian family?'He certainly was aware that Sage knew how to cook.Back when he was bedridden, she had cooked for him, but he did not have the capacity to enjoy food. He even remembered knocking over a tray of food that she had prepared for him.Later when he was discharged from the hospital, Sage had also cooked for him several times.However, most of the time he had never eaten her food either because he had eaten before coming home, or he could not be bothered to even try it. He had often just glanced at it as it sat on his desk. Thinking about it, Jace realized that Sage had treated him really well, but he had taken her for granted.Reaching for the rose seal that Sage had gifted him, Jace traced his fingers wistfully over the name that was engraved on it. Could it re
Sage shot a cold glance at the crowd, and everyone immediately stopped talking. The still silence in the office was sliced by Sage's stern order, "Get back to work.""Yes, ma'am!"…Sage attended a meeting in the afternoon to discuss the ambassadors for the jewelry project.Allan, the director of artist relations at Norah Entertainment, had prepared a presentation on the list of shortlisted artists. Sage went through the artists' pictures while listening to the presentation. All the artists on the list were good-looking. They looked even better than the internet influencers she had met at the charity event. In the middle of the meeting, Luther called Sage."I'm still in a meeting. Talk to you in a bit."Just when she was about to hang up, Luther said in a rush, "It's nothing serious. Don't let those shameless b*tches get to you, leave them to me! I'll make sure they'll be sorry."Luther ended the call after rambling on furiously.Sage was left feeling puzzled.Hunter had g
Although Sage thought that she looked graceful, people had thought otherwise.[She must be the only one who thinks that she is a princess. A respectable and well-mannered lady would not humiliate others in the public. Those girls were only gossiping. Did she really have to pour red wine on them?][How dare she pour red wine on my idol? She's gone way too far! Urgh, I really wish I could slap her in the face myself!][Just look at that pretentious attitude of hers. I mean, I can't tell from her back, but she must look hideous. If you have an ugly heart, you're ugly.][Can someone tell me who is the eldest daughter of the Norah family? Isn't Braxton Norah the chairman of Norah Group? From what I gathered, he has a daughter, named Yeva Norah, and she doesn't look like the person in the video.][You're right. I've met Yeva once at a party, and I remember her being gentle and especially well-mannered. She's completely different from the person in the video.][If you guys take a closer
Without even taking a break, Jace had gathered the upper management for a meeting as soon as he returned to Nadeem City.With lunch in his hands, Zayne came up to Jace with a piece of news."Sir, ma'am is being cyberbullied."Looking through the social media, Jace frowned.Zayne reported to Jace what he knew about the incident. Studying Jace's expression, he added, "This is clearly a concerted act of violence. I've had people look into it and found out that Brody Liam from Starship Entertainment had paid people to leave negative comments. He wanted to help one of the girls who he had a relationship with… Aside from this, I think he wanted to use this chance to take down Norah Entertainment, as the two companies have always been rivals.""Brody Liam." In a deep voice, Jace added, "He's been doing quite a lot in the recent years."Zayne tried to read between the lines of Jace's remarks. Testing the waters, Zayne added, "Starship Entertainment has been doing well recently, and we ar
The online confrontation had started off intensely and died down eventually.Those who were enjoying the "show" had their fun taken away from them.In the evening, Starship Entertainment released an official statement: [As Minnie and several other artists have violated the terms of their contract by making groundless accusations, Starship Entertainment has decided to dismiss them. This incident has damaged the reputation of the company, and for that, the company has decided to end terminate their contracts.]Minnie and the rest of the artists involved had deleted their posts and had issued an official apology to Sage. This time around, they had sounded truly sincere and apologetic. Their actions stood in sharp contrast to their earlier actions. The drastic plot twist had once again sparked another discussion online.The media had initially assumed that it was an ugly battle between Starship Entertainment and Norah Entertainment, and they were considering whose side to take when S
Sage heard of the saying, 'Marriage is for happiness, and so does divorce.'Based on Wikipedia, the definition of marriage was, 'Marriage is a long-term contractual relationship between a man and a woman based on equal consent.'Someone once said, 'Marriage is like a siege. Those outside wanted to break in, while people inside wanted to break out of the siege.'Sage and Jace had been through marriage once. In their first marriage, they were both losers. This time, they were both determined to win. They wanted to live their lives well. Even if their passion were to fade in the future, they would never leave each other. There were eight couples in line ahead of them. Sage and Jace were the ninth.Jace was eager for their turn. He counted carefully and then said with a smile, "It's nine again. It's a good day for this number."Jace suddenly came up with a good idea, "Let's have a daughter and call her Little Nine, okay?"'Did he just come up with that? How brave,' Sage thought and
The ninth of September arrived quickly.Sage was worried that Jace would not be able to get up on time, but Sage turned out to be the one who overslept. Sage had not slept all night because of a certain someone. She was so sleepy, while Jace was full of energy.Jace carried Sage to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. "Open your mouth. Ah…"Sage squinted as she saw the terrible dark circles under her eyes. She turned around in anger and bumped Jace's head.Jace was caught off guard and felt dizzy from the impact. He rubbed his head. "Dear, aren't you hurting yourself by doing this…""Look at my dark circles. They're so ugly. How am I supposed to take pictures? Sage complained in anger.Jace squinted and rubbed his eyes. "Let me see. What's ugly?"He held Sage's face and observed it. "What's ugly? It's not ugly. My wife is the prettiest in the world!"Jace did not care about the toothpaste foam all over Sage's mouth and kissed her anyway.Primrose opened the door and
Jace made Sage stay up all night. Sage was so sleepy that her eyes were closing."Sleep. I'll wake you up later."Jace leaned down and kissed her forehead. As he closed his eyes, he remembered something and sat up sharply."By the way, we have to wear white shirts for tomorrow's photo session. We haven't prepared the shirt…"Jace rolled over and jumped off the bed right after saying that. Sage could not stop him in time, so she turned on the lamp helplessly. She leaned over the bed and waited for Jace in silence.Shortly after, Jace came back with two shirts. His eyes were shining. "Dear, you've prepared for us?""Yeah." Sage nodded weakly. "I've got them ready. I've had Zamora iron them for me."Jace could finally put his mind at ease. "What about the documents and identifications…"Sage pulled open the drawer of the bedside table and took out the papers and documents she had prepared ahead. "It's all here."Sage looked at Jace. "Everything is ready. You've checked three time
Sage spread out the notebook and looked at the blurred handwriting. She slowly read it out loud, "Step one, conquer her with sweet talking. Use sweeter and flirtatious words that would make people blush. Forget about modesty and shame in bed. It's best to whisper them into her ears…"Sage read the notes with a straight face, making Jace so embarrassed that he could hardly keep his feet on the ground.Jace strode forward with a stiff face and tried to snatch the notebook away. Sage was quick to dodge and continued reading with her head down."Step two, be aggressive at your offense. Focus and remember this, being rough yet gentle. You can use props such as blindfolds, ties, handcuffs, and so on…"Sage's face turned red while reading it. As the images popped into her mind, she had to stop reading.Jace was about to go crazy. He buried his face in his hands, unable to look up at Sage."Where did you learn all these?" Sage threw the notebook at Jace. "Rough yet gentle? Are you seriou
'Electric drill? Seriously?!' Jace thought and got a headache.Seeing that Sage was about to open her mouth again, he panicked and kissed her directly to shut her up.Dean was stunned by Jace's quick action. When he saw the couple kissing in the light, he suddenly raised his hand and hit his head.'I must be on the set… Who else would be so shameless as to kiss in public like that?' Dean thought.Sage finally calmed down after a long kiss. Jace breathed a sigh of relief and picked her up. He told Logan, "I'll leave the other guy to you!""Oh," Logan responded. Then he picked Dean up like a kid and walked out the door.Jace was tired and sweaty by the time he arrived at the hotel. Sage was already soundly asleep. Jace put her to bed and took off her shoes, socks, pants, and clothes. He stripped her clean.Sage drank a lot and was reeking of alcohol. Jace did not want to wake her up, so he did not carry her to the bathroom and bathe her. Instead, he wet the towel with hot water to
In the words of the commentators, the basketball game was very smooth. The national team played well! At last, the national team defeated the opponent team by a score of 106-73.The crowd was thrilled that the national team had won the game. The internet was buzzing with excitement too. There were several hot searches about the national team's victory. The topic #RisingStarJim made the headlines too.Sage had lost her usual composure. She was following the fans and shouting wildly, cheering for the victory.Perhaps this was the power of sports. It made the audience exhilarated and trembling with excitement. Jace looked calm on the outside, but he was actually quite excited on the inside.Sage was cheering in excitement. She jumped up and down like a child while hugging Jace. Jace followed and laughed with her too.They were planning to leave after the game, but Sage was really happy and stayed for the team's celebration party. Sage even asked Jim for his teammates' shoe sizes and
"Is that so?" A trace of interest flashed in Jace's eyes.Sage did not understand, so she asked, "What does a small forward do?"Jace explained, "The small forwards are typically the tallest and most athletic of all players. They are responsible for scoring points and defending. The main goal of strong shooters is to score and create opportunities for teammates. In other cases, they would operate as off-ball specialists. They would wait for teammates to pass the ball, catch the ball, and shoot to score."Seeing Sage's confused look, Jace added, "James and Durant, for example, are playing as small forwards.""Oh!" Sage immediately understood after hearing the name of these famous basketball stars. Her eyes lit up. "Isn't that amazing?"Jace saw the sparkle in her eyes and found her really adorable. He said, smiling, "It is. Basketball is all about teamwork. Small forward is probably the most versatile of the five main basketball positions and carries multiple functions in the game.
The next morning, Sage, Jace, and Dean went to the basketball arena for the World Championships after breakfast.It was the men's basketball world championship, where their country's basketball team was up against another country. By the time they got to the arena, many people were in the audience.The staff guided Sage and the group to their designated seat in the family section.As soon as Dean sat down, someone next to him called out his name. Dean seemed unsurprised by this. He even smiled and waved at them. After that, he gestured for them to be polite and silent. It was not Dean's first time watching his younger brother's basketball game live. Many of his fans knew that Dean's younger brother was playing on the national team. They especially came over to get closer to him. Some were Jim's fans too. They knew Dean was Jim's brother, so they would greet him.After listening to Dean's explanation, Sage's businessman side as the owner of Norah Entertainment appeared again."If
Jace muffled his laughs and relaxed in the night light. He said, "I have to work harder, or someone will call me old.""Hey." Sage knew he would get back at her.She rolled over and lay on top of Jace. She played with his chest and said in a muffled voice, "I have a new nickname for you."Jace responded, "Hm?"Sage looked up at him. "Vengeance."Jace was stunned and soon broke into a peal of laughter. Sage leaned on him and felt the rise and fall of his breathing. As his chest resonated with his laughter, Sage followed along with his laughter. Both of them were laughing like fools. Sage and Jace lay flat on the bed after laughing nonstop. They opened up and improved their intimacy so much. As a result, their whole body and mind were very relaxed tonight. "Hey..." The two spoke in unison, exchanged a glance, and smiled again.Sage said, "Go ahead."Jace looked at Sage and muttered, "I'll say something, but don't get mad at it.""Just say it." Sage looked at him.Jace though