Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

How could someone as capable as River not make it?

He had to be lying. There's no way he was telling the truth.

"That Maybach up ahead belongs to River, right? I remember his license plate," Romina said.

She remembered it clearly-and Maddox did too.

Truth be told, most of the business elites in Eaglioncile could recognize River's license plate. His talent had made him a standout. When he led Yantail out of crisis and into the ranks of major corporations, he caught everyone's attention. Romina wasn't the only one who had targeted Yantail. Others had made moves behind the scenes, but Romina—and the Lafond Group behind her had always been open about their competition. They never played dirty.

Compared to his other rivals, River actually respected Romina. At least she was straightforward—no sneaky tricks behind his back.

him. He got here pretty

it—my aunt asked me to remind you. At tonight's banquet, even if you see River, try to keep your

not just up to me. He's got to be willing to keep his distance too. Maddox, you don't know how shameless that guy is. Even if I steer clear,

asked her to treat him to

it up in front of everyone-maybe even in front of her grandfather-and twist it into something ridiculous. Say she took advantage of him

two really

let me go. Yantail's become a major player, and my Lafond family can't deal with them the way we used to. I watched a fierce competitor rise. I had a chance to stop him, but I didn't. Now he's thriving." Romina sighed. "I'm almost thirty. Life had always gone smoothly for me... until I met River. He's the first one who ever

you respect him. If he weren't

Maddox didn't dare say was that he also kind of wanted to steal River-