Luna never expected to receive Lucas's bad news. She kept waiting for his phone call, but instead, she learned about his hospitalization.She could not be bothered about Dane and rushed to the hospital in a hurry. She learned from the doctor that Lucas had stomach cancer and would not live long. In addition, he had a myocardial infarction and could die at any time.The bad news struck her like a thunderbolt. Luna was in so much despair that she almost fainted.She never understood why she had such a tragic fate. It was the same with her brother and Lucas. Problems kept coming up one after another. She could not have a moment to rest at all.She was exhausted. She was really tired of all this. Luna sat on the bench outside the hospital for a long time before she calmed down. When she entered the ward and saw Lucas, she could hardly recognize him.Lucas was once a handsome and elegant man. Why had he suddenly become such a thin and bony old man?What had happened in just a few da
Lucas called out to her again. "Luna." "We should get a divorce," he said.His words made Luna feel a loud bang in her heart. It was as if someone tore her apart by flying a cannonball at her, crushing her heart.Luna stopped dead in her tracks, turned around, and glared at Lucas with a vicious look. "Are you crazy? You still want to divorce me?""Yes." Lucas looked at her and said in a low voice, "I don't want to drag you down with me.""If you don't want to trouble me, then who?" Luna's eyes reddened. "Lucas, you can't be putting your hopes in your ex-wife, Freya, right? Do you think she'll care about you? You're long divorced!"She went mad and said fiercely, "She has another man now. She has a new husband. Do you know who her new husband is? He's a great doctor from Mostal. A world-renowned doctor who brings miracles. A normal patient won't ever have a chance to see him. His annual salary and social status are probably much higher than yours. Do you think she'll still rememb
After Jace's return, Sage could finally relax and be less involved with the Yuriel Group. Meanwhile, she had Finn and Hunter in the Norah Group. She did not need to do everything herself, which made her feel much less worried. She finally had someone to talk to when Primrose and Sawyer returned. She could speak to her parents about her difficulties and ease the pressure on her shoulders. She felt alive again. It was a good time for her. She enjoyed it! She thought it was time to arrange a travel trip to have fun, but she wondered if she should take her parents along.It had been years since she had been on a trip with her parents, but the thought of her parent's constant display of affection turned her off. How should she deal with Sawyer and Primrose when they show their love for each other?Sage remembered the driving trip with her parents a few years ago. They showed their love throughout the journey to the snowy mountains. There was a point where they got so much into the m
Sage put her phone on the table and slumped in her chair. She sighed softly, "D*mn it! Tim!""Why are you shouting?" Someone suddenly opened the door to the office and startled Sage. She jumped in a jolt and bounced from the chair.She looked at Luther with eyes wide in fright. Her reaction startled Luther too. "What's wrong?"When Sage saw it was Luther and not Tim who came, her pounding heart calmed down. She furrowed her brows and said in annoyance, "Don't you know how to knock when you come in?"Luther was stunned at first. Then, he snorted. "You're saying that, but have you ever knocked when you come to my place? Did I catch you talking bad about Tim?""No, I didn't!" Sage retorted reflexively. She calmed down and sat back in her chair. "What are you doing here?""It's lunchtime. Let's go to lunch together." Luther patted his tummy and laughed. "I want to eat Itelian dishes for lunch. Go to Tasteful Restaurant with me."Although the brothers were unreliable, Sage was
When Sage saw Jace, she almost dropped the food to the ground.She could not decide between Sawyer and Jace after trying the second bite. The dish did not just taste like her father's cooking. It reminded her of Jace too.She had eaten Jace's cooking before. Meanwhile, Jace was her father's only apprentice in cooking. He learned all his cooking skills from Sawyer. It was not great, but not terrible either. At least it was edible and cooked food and not poisonous. It was much better than Primrose's terrible cooking.There was no reason for Sawyer to come to Tasteful Restaurant to cook for her while Jace was far away in Nadeem City. Why would he come here out of the blue?To her surprise, Jace was here! Jace wore a white chef's uniform and hat. He looked good in the uniform with his slender body and handsome face.He looked good in anything he wore. It was as expected of a handsome man.Jace had a plate of fish in his hand. He slowly approached Sage with a smile on his face and s
Sage looked up at Jace. Before she could answer, Luther interjected quickly, "Why not? Sage doesn't have any companions because none of us enjoys stuff like that. Besides, she doesn't like to see Mom and Dad showing off their love all day alone, so she's looking for a travel partner. You could accompany her. Both of you can stare at Mom and Dad's constant display of love. Hehe."Sage was rendered speechless. Luther was terrible at everything except for selling out his sister.Sage glared at Luther and wanted to hit his head!Jace laughed at Luther's statement. He turned to Sage with a smile. "Sure. I'm always willing to accompany you."Sage looked at Jace's face full of smiles. She suddenly realized that Jace was becoming more smiley lately. Meanwhile, she also loved to see his smile....It was a good and satisfying meal.Sage had not eaten such a satisfying meal in a long time. She felt like she had eaten so much that she could skip dinner.When Sage stood up, she accidentall
Sage looked at the faint smile and her reflection in Jace's dark eyes. Her face grew slightly hot."You're really not treating yourself like an outsider at all." She blushed and glared at him.Jace had a cool smile on his face. "I'm not an outsider anyway."He was thick-skinned but not wrong. He was in her office, but they were not in a secret relationship. There was nothing to be nervous about.Sage was in a good mood. When the elevator arrived at her floor, the elevator made a Ding sound and opened from both sides. She led Jace out with her head held high. She even tipped her chin slightly and walked like a queen.However, she stopped abruptly after seeing the happenings on the CEO's floor."Miss Sage! Hello, Mister Jace!"Almost everyone working on her floor had a cup of coffee in one hand and a dessert like a donut or a pancake in the other hand. They were enjoying the food happily and greeted her sloppily.Sage could smell the sweet scent from the deserts and saw the offic
Sage concentrated on savoring the desserts in her hands. Her mom used to tell her it was the most basic respect for food.Jace drank a sip of coffee and watched Sage eating with a gentle smile. He always enjoyed watching her eat. The food always tasted better in this quiet and beautiful moment. In a matter of minutes, Sage finished the mochi and pancake.She hummed contentedly and looked at the cream and stain on her hands. As she was about to wash her hands, Jace held them. He gently wiped the cream stain from her fingers with a wet paper towel. He treated her hands like fragile treasures.Sage looked at his slender fingers' movement as he gently wiped her hands in his. Jace's hand looked beautiful, just like a treasure. He was so close to her that she could feel his shallow breathing. It felt like their breathing intertwined in this closeness.By the time he cleaned her hands, her cheeks were red as a tomato. "Enough," she muttered and withdrew her hand, trying to hide. If this
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