Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

Zachary explained to Tatum that the scheming old man, Labby, was trying to seize the Ormond family's property and claim it as his own. Labby lacked any legitimate inheritance rights within his family-no recognition as the family head, no tokens, no totems. Just ambition and greed. "Brother," Tatum said, "I don't have any clever advice for you. Like Big Brother said, we trust

Grandma. As long as you follow her instructions, you won't come out on the losing end. We're past the age of being disciplined by Grandma only to end up worse off."

Growing up, they'd frequently find themselves at a loss after being corrected by their grandparents, who would scold them for lacking the skills, planning, or insight needed to make things work. It was a harsh lesson in humility. Tatum added, "I'll grab a few more hours of sleep before I get up to work out and make breakfast for Elora."

Evan nodded. "Alright. Get some rest, but don't overdo it."

Tatum smiled. "I'm not overworked. I enjoy this."

Evan chuckled. "As long as you're in the kitchen, you wouldn't care if the sky came crashing down."

doing what he loved-cooking-and

his bed, staring at the ceiling for a while. Eventually, he set his phone on the nightstand, turned off the lights, and drifted off to sleep, knowing tomorrow would bring new challenges.

next morning, Tatum, now in Annenburg, Province X, started his day with a

Alonzo always needed a push from Elora to get out of bed. Like most kids, he hated waking up early for school but had no problem springing

he'd cross paths with other members of the Ormond family's staff. They'd greet him with warmth

running every day? Aren't you southerners supposed to hate the

"Running keeps me warm. I barely feel the

was no different. After exchanging a few words with the staff, Tatum resumed his

typically began work at six in the morning and didn't finish until ten at