Chapter 20

Sage checked her inbox to see some replies from the companies she’d submitted her résumé to

earlier. She’d gotten her stockbroking license back in her college days, so most investment companies

were more inclined to hire her.

Two of them had sent her invitations for interviews, and two others had outright offered her jobs. It was

just that her lack of experience would mean she would get paid less compared to other licensed

investors.

Sage sent all of these companies short, simple thank–you messages. Her initial plan had been to go

back to what she knew and get a job in investing. But now that she’d decided to work with Shane, she

couldn’t go anywhere else for the time being.

After replying to all her emails, Sage started going through the information on Mimosa. It was a winery

that had expanded relatively rapidly in recent years. Its main selling point was that it had a long history

and skilled employees who were equivalent to national treasures. This had helped it gain fame.

Sage remembered that in her previous life, Mimosa’s stock price had skyrocketed after becoming a

publicly listed company through private equity. It had also helped Bolton Investment earn a huge sum.

Naturally, many companies would want to invest in good businesses. Shane’s company wasn’t half

bad, but it was still no match for Holcomb Corporation. Sage figured that he’d probably tried to win the

bid for Mimosa but had lost to Holcomb Corporation.

At the time, Sage had been thoroughly focused on Ian. She hadn’t paid attention to anyone else other

than him. Now, if she wanted to win the Mimosa project, she had to offer a price that was better than

Bolton Investment’s but still within Mimosa’s value.

In her previous life, every media outlet had fallen over itself to report on Mimosa after it became

publicly listed. Sage remembered that there’d been reports on Bolton’s investment capital and share

ratio.

She had to take those reports with a grain of salt, though–they may not necessarily have been totally

accurate. She could only use them as reference points. Ultimately, she still had to analyze the situation

and come up with a strategy that matched what she could see.

With that thought in mind, Sage focused her attention on analyzing the information

she had.

That evening, Ian returned to Solaris Estate. Wanda was surprised to see him. “You’re back, Mr.

Holcomb! Dinner will be ready in just a second.”

She couldn’t help thinking that Ian was coming back more often these days. In the past, he would only

return home two or three days a week. If he had to go on business trips, he wouldn’t even come home.

But he’d been home for a few days in a row this week- and he was returning earlier each day.

Ian glanced upstairs. “Is Sage back?”

Wanda nodded. “Mrs. Holcomb came home very early today. She’s been cooped up upstairs, though.”

Ian went upstairs. Sage’s bedroom door was slightly ajar. He could hear her typing away at her

computer.

He cleared his throat. The typing stopped abruptly and was followed by the sound of footsteps coming

toward the door.

Ian straightened up. He prepared himself for Sage’s usual way of welcoming him home

she would open the door excitedly and ask him why he was home so early. Yet all Sage did was shut

the door in his face. She even locked it!

“Sage Joyner!” Ian couldn’t help barking. Sage ignored him, though.

Ian felt his blood pressure rise as he stood there for a few seconds, waiting for her to respond. When

she didn’t, he turned and flounced off to the study.

He stayed in there for half an hour; Sage didn’t come out of her room at all, let alone bring some fruits

and tea to him while asking him this and that.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the study felt smothering. Ian went downstairs instead.

“Are you going out, Mr. Holcomb? Dinner’s ready, though,” Wanda said.

Ian didn’t say anything. He sat down at the dining table, looking murderous. Wanda continued in a

small voice, “I’ll go get Mrs. Holcomb.”

Shortly after, Sage, dressed in loungewear, came downstairs with Wanda by her side. She seemed to

be in a good mood as she chatted and laughed with Wanda.

Seeing her like this only made Ian’s blood pressure rise again. He thought she was still stuck in her

slump from last

night. Now, it seemed like it hadn’t affected her in the

least.

“Mrs. Holcomb, I’ve made you some dishes that are high in iron. Remember to have as much as you

can, okay?” Wanda said.

“Alright. Thanks, Wanda. Have a seat and join us,” Sage said.

Wanda shook her head. “That won’t do. I left some food for myself in the kitchen.”

Ian frowned. “Is there something wrong?”

Wanda answered, “Mrs. Holcomb’s a little anemic; the doctor told her to take more foods high in iron.

Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb, you guys should eat. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

After she left, Ian picked up his cutlery and asked, “Why haven’t I ever heard about you being anemic?”

Sage sipped her broth. “You’re not a doctor. What’s the point of letting you know?”

Ian was upset by her retort. He suppressed his anger before pulling out a black card and sliding it over

to her. “Go and buy whatever you want.”

Sage looked up, seemingly confused. Ian continued, “Stop this fuss with the divorce and don’t go

harming Ivy just because you’re mad about me not spending that stupid fifth anniversary of our first

meeting with you. You even got Grandma and your grandfather worried.”

He tapped the black card. “Take this and go pick out something as a gift. This matter ends here. You

don’t need to apologize to Ivy, but don’t ever pull something like that in

the future.

Sage didn’t know how to feel about the matter. Indeed, the day she’d been reborn hadn’t just been Ivy’s

birthday–it had also been the fifth anniversary of her and Ian’s first meeting.

Ian had been on a business trip on their first wedding anniversary, so they hadn’t gotten to celebrate it

together. That was why Sage had viewed the anniversary of their first meeting as particularly important.

She’d happily picked out a gift and prepared scented candles as a surprise for Ian. She’d wanted that

day to become a beautiful memory.

Yet all she’d gotten was the news of Ian wanting to spend the day with Ivy to celebrate her birthday…

Sage had always thought that Ian had no idea what day that was. It turned out he was ..