Sage had finished inspecting every department of the Norah Group before lunch. The Group had initially started as jewelers and had featured only the most luxurious, high-end brands. Later, Sawyer Norah, Sage's father and founder of the group, had started venturing into other industries such as hospitality, racing, antiquary, film production, and housing estates. The Norah Group had once monopolized the businesses in Salem City with Norah Jewel being the world's largest diamond trading business, and their mines supplied many international industries. At that time, Norah Group was at its peak. While Salem City had the Norah Group, Nadeem City had the Yuriel Group. Both companies had only focused on expanding their business in their own city and had never interfered with each other.The employees were all pretending to work as they stole glances at their new CEO. "Damn, Director Sage is so gorgeous!"Sage's outfit today was rather different compared with the one she wore yesterday
By midday, the employees from the Operations Department and Public Relations Department of the Yuriel Group had been working relentlessly and tirelessly, asking media outlets to take down the article.In the CEO's office, the manager of the Operations Department stammered as he tried to explain the situation. "Director Jace, it was Miss Sienna who had us upload the article. She provided us with the content as well. She told us not to make any edits or changes to the article, and we thought that she had your approval."Jace looked calm as he went through some documents, but his dark outfit and the dark-themed office room made him look especially cold and distant.Before the manager could even finish his sentence, Jace placed down the documents in his hand and scoffed, "You thought?""I…" stuttered the manager as he trembled in fear. The manager looked toward Jace's personal assistant in desperation. Assistant Zayne said, "And I thought you had already handed in your resignation
Sage leaned back in her chair with a cold expression."Karma always finds a way to hit back. Her lies and tricks will be exposed one day. She is a nobody, so why should I lower myself to expose her. She is not worth my time."Luther raised his brows and smiled devilishly, "But you've loved Jace for such a long time. Are you really sure that you're okay with the fact that he chose that trash over you?""I mean, what can I do if he wants to collect trash?"Sage sounded like she no longer cared. "Luther, I'm tired," she said. She ended the video call, got up from her chair, and walked toward the window.Night had fallen in Salem City. Nightlife here had always been exciting. The city lights would lit up the sky and the atmosphere would be lively. However, during those three years in Nadeem City, Sage was all alone at night. She did not feel lonely because of the long stretches of time she had to spend alone in their house. She was lonely because the person she had been in love wi
Yeva was blinded by rage. With her hands held high, she was confident that Sage would be badly injured.However, it was as if Sage had eyes at the back of her head, she tilted her head just as the vase would have made contact. She turned around and grabbed Yeva's hand, which still clutched the vase. Immediately after that, the vase had somehow ended up in Sage's hands. Leaving Yeva no time to react, Sage landed a hard slap on Yeva's right cheek, causing her to fall to the ground with a screech of pain. "Aaah!" Yeva felt slightly dizzy before feeling the burning sensation on her right cheek. She could not bring herself to get back on her feet."How dare you?!"With a cold expression Sage threw the vase to the floor, and, with a loud bang, the vase shattered. Yeva curled up and yelled another terrified scream as she covered her ears. Sage, on the other hand, approached her. Yeva inched back as Sage advanced. Eventually, her back was against the wall, and she stared at Sage, terr
By the time Jace had rushed to the apartment, Sienna was already kneeling on the floor. Covering her face with her hands, she sobbed."Sienna."Jace appeared like a hero to Sienna. At the sight of him, she rushed into his arms and cried out, "Jace, help me!"Jace noticed the bright red mark on Sienna's left cheek. His expression darkened immediately and he glared at his mother. "Mom, why didn't you tell me that you were coming over?" Freya Yuriel, the eldest daughter of Grandpa Yuriel, looked imposing and charismatic even though she was bound to a wheelchair; her eyes were also filled with ice like Jace’s."Well, did you ever care to tell me of your divorce, or when you decided to hide this woman here?"Freya's legs were covered with a blanket that had been embroidered by Sage, and the shawl over her shoulders was also a gift from Sage.Freya held up her hand and the lady behind her took the hint that she wanted a cigarette.Jace frowned and said, "Sienna is ill. Please don't
After sorting the ruckus, Luther returned to find that Sage was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the place and found the woman dressed in red having the time of her life on the dance floor. Sage had become the center of attention on the dance floor. She was surrounded by a group of men who were cheering and whistling at her. "Oh Sage, my dear…"It had been ages since Luther last saw Sage letting her hair down. Under the bright and colorful lights, accompanied by the rhythmic dance music, Sage was bouncing and grooving to the beat, showing off her attractive physique.At the bar, a man who had been admiring Sage for some time finally made his way to the dance floor. He stood close to her, and his hands were making their way to her hips. "Shit!" cursed Luther when he saw how Sage was about to be taken advantage of. He was just about to make his way onto the dance floor when he heard a loud gasp.Sage had reacted faster than Luther. She grabbed the man's arms, threw him over her sh
Jace left the apartment. It was only after he felt the cold breeze on his face did he feel a sense of relief. Zayne opened the car door, stepped aside, and waited for Jace to get into the car. Jace, however, stopped and turned to Zayne. "Have you gotten anything on Sage Luz's whereabouts?" he asked. "Not yet…"Jace hissed, "How useless can you get?!"Zayne's head was hung low. He had never felt this defeated before.He knew that Jace hated excuses, but he bit the bullet and continued, "It is as if someone had intentionally removed all traces of Ms. Luz so that we won't be able to find her. Plus, the skills of our hackers are not as good as theirs."Jace's gaze darkened as he wondered who would want to hide Sage's whereabouts.'Who are you exactly, Sage Luz?' wondered Jace.After getting into the car, Zayne passed the information he had received from the hospital to Jace. "I've spoken to the people at the hospital, and there are two things that I find suspicious.""Go on," sa
Sage thew up all over the man. She had emptied the entire contents of her stomach on him. It was a horrible scene.Yoel was not a neat freak, but no one could possibly stand being covered in barf. To his horror, Sage had proceeded to use his necktie as a napkin. She wiped her mouth, belched, and said, "Sorry, my bad. I should have held it in."She was unremorseful despite her apology. One could see the bulging veins on Yoel's forehead as he fixated a cold stare on Sage.Yoel thought that the woman in front of him was breathtaking. She had a pair of plump lips and a small yet distinct face. Yoel did not think that she could possibly be the hostess of a bar, not with the elegant and sophisticated way she carried herself. Yoel always had a soft spot for beauties. As he admired her, he released a small sigh, feeling a little less annoyed. Luther quickly pulled Sage back into his arms and apologized to Luther, "My apologies, Sir. My sister here has had too much to drink."As 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