As the big brother, Tim did not just prepare the gifts for his younger sister. He also prepared some gifts for his younger brothers and sisters-in-law. Everyone had something and was happy.As the youngest child in the family, Sage still got the most gifts. Even so, Suki was surprised that Sage got a gun as a gift. She felt a little nervous when she opened her own gift, but fortunately, her gift was relatively normal.It was a beautiful emerald bracelet. Suki had long known that Seth came from an unusual family. She was pretty familiar with the Hector family, a family of actors. However, the Norah family side was always a surprise to her.She wondered why Seth had so many half-siblings. They were all from unusual backgrounds and gave her a strange sense of mystery.It seemed like everyone had a knack for something. Also, who would give their youngest sister a Browning gun as a New Year's gift?Sage was not even surprised to receive the gun as a gift. Instead, she enjoyed playi
Sage took deep breaths and calmed down.She knew Tim must have made his arrangements since his return. Perhaps, he had arranged for his men to guard around Salem City. Without his permission, no one would be able to get out."Tim." Sage turned around and looked at Tim with a pout. "If you're serious about my safety, you've got to prepare me for this. Don't hide things from me anymore."She could not be tough against her brother. She had to use reasons. Unfortunately, Tim was firm and completely ignored her pouting. "I'll let you know what you need to know when the time comes."Meanwhile, on the island.Jace was doing his recovery training. He was covered in sweat.Primrose watched as Jace trained. Sawyer came over with a grim look after the satellite call. His eyes were dark."Did he get away again?"Primrose was already used to it. She did not show any hint of disappointment in her eyes. "If it were so easy to catch him, he wouldn't be the Shawn we know. I've told you. It's us
After the New Year, Sage became very busy again and was caught up in work. The Yuriel Group was getting back on track. She did not have to stay in Yuriel Group all the time, but she was still traveling back and forth between Nadeem City and Salem City.The Yuriel Group and Norah Group were working together on many projects. With her as the middleman, it saved a lot of trouble.Sage was a person who did not like to hog the work. She tried to delegate any possible task to others to segregate duties. Fortunately, she had Finn and Hunter in the Norah Group. Meanwhile, Henry and Zachary were gradually getting the hang of their work and were able to help her with some things.After the team integration, each department had its own role to play. This eliminated a lot of cumbersome processes to a certain extent. During the process, Sage found many good talents in the Yuriel Group. After interacting with them, she learned that many of the middle management were trained by Jace.Whenever t
Sage was speechless. Tim was really a cold-hearted man. If acting cute to him did not work, that meant she would have to train to the hardest.Sage picked up an oversized water tumbler and finished half of the bottle in gulps. Yale walked over to Sage and asked with a faint smile, "Tired?""Yeah, yeah!" Sage pursed her lips and wiped the sweat from her face with a towel. "It's been a long time since I had such intense training. I feel like I'm a child again."Even so, Sage felt like she had less energy than she had as a child. When she was a child, she was tireless in long training sessions. Now, she was huffing and puffing after two rounds of training.Yale said, "You'll exhaust yourself if you constantly stay on offense. Your attack is already very fierce, but men always have the upper hand of their natural physical strength. There's no point in hitting them hard." Yale gave her some tips and said, "What you need to practice now is how to defend. Try to attack your enemy's
Jace quickly became a coward.Primrose's reaction earlier was because of the sudden fear. However, when she saw Jace's cowardly look, the chill in her spine gradually receded.She had an urge to laugh too. Jack walked over with a sullen face and slapped Jace on the back. "Brat. How dare you hit your mother-in-law! What are you trying to do!"Jace looked at his teacher with an innocent look on his face. "But didn't you say…""What did I say? No matter what I say, you still can't hit your mother-in-law! Do you want to get your wife back? Do you want to be accepted into the Norah family?"Jack was the one who passed the fake message, but here he was twisting the story.Jace was lost for words and stunned.Sawyer had the same sullen face and said in a low voice, "If you hit harder, my wife would've died in your hands."Jace was speechless and panicked at that moment. It was his first time regretting his action so much. He was at a loss."I…I…am sorry!" Jace got so nervous that h
"Tim must have gone for Shawn behind my back!"Sage furrowed her brows tightly. "He's always like this. He never takes me along with him. What's the point of making me train all day long! It's not useful at all!"Sage was very annoyed.Yale looked at Sage after he drank a few sips of water. He knew Sage was frustrated. He pressed his lips and comforted her, "Tim always has reasons behind his action. He's making you train daily as a precaution. Your main priority is to keep yourself safe.""He always treats me like a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore."Sage's face turned serious. "If one after another has to sacrifice for me, what's my use? How can I watch my loved ones leave me one after another? If I'm unable to do anything, then what's the meaning of my existence?" Yale looked at her with firm eyes."I never wanted to be an overly protected girl at home. That's not me."Sage looked up and met Yale's gaze. "I'd rather be a wild rose. At least a wild rose is thorny enough to surv
Hunter saw his phone screen cracked badly and thought, 'My… phone… Okay.'What mattered the most now was not his phone but Sage.In those photos, Sage was locked in a metal cage. She was bruised, dirty, and had chains around her wrists and ankles and a collar around her neck.Hunter had never seen Sage like that, not to mention Finn, who grew up with her. However, Finn soon realized when those photos were taken. It was photos of the fourteen years old Sage when she was kidnapped.Finn knew Sage had been kidnapped. When she was rescued, she returned full of injuries. No one knew what she had been through. After that, she had to see a psychiatrist for four years before returning to her normal self.Sage sat in her chair motionlessly. She clenched her fists so tight that her nails were digging deep into her flesh. Her eyes were red and burning with hatred.Finn and Hunter looked at her worriedly. Both of them dared not to make a squeak.Suddenly, the phone rang and broke the dead
Sage kicked everyone out of her office and turned off her phone.She sat on the bay window with a thin cigarette between her fingers. She smoked in silence and made one puff after another.She had long sealed that horrible past of her in the deepest part of her memory. There were times when she was reminded of it. She did not dare to recall the memories and always pretended that she had already gotten over it. However, she had not completely healed from the traumatizing experience.She had to admit that her experience at fourteen years old was still traumatizing. It was a wound she dared not to touch easily.Sometimes, she wondered. If Jace had not saved her, she might not have lived past that year. Her physical wounds gradually healed after her parents took her home, but the wounds in her heart never healed.Whenever she closed her eyes, the image of the cramped cage, the horrible face, and the sharp syringe would flash past her eyes. She also remembered the chains that tied her
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