Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 106

When the boy saw him, his eyes lit up for a second, only to quickly dim again.

"Dad."

Lawrence stood in the doorway, looking at him.

He suddenly realized he didn't know what to say.

If it were Wren, she would crouch down, feel his hands to see if they were cold, and ask him which step he got stuck on today. She wouldn't demand to know who was right or wrong right away; she would slowly untangle the boy's chaotic emotions.

But Lawrence only knew how to demand results.

"Why did you push your classmate's things?"

Leo picked at the cardboard. "He laughed at me."

"Laughed at you for what?"

"He said my presentation sounded like a grown-up wrote it."

Lawrence frowned. "Then rewrite it."

The boy's head snapped up, his eyes instantly turning red. "Mom said I should write what I actually want to say."

"Then why didn't you?"

Leo hugged the model tighter, his voice so fragile it sounded like it might shatter. "I did, but you didn't come home that night, and I wanted to show you. The teacher said I needed my parents to sign it today, but I didn't have it."

Lawrence froze.

Ms. Miller handed over a crumpled notice.

It had a signature line for Wren, and one for him. Wren's line was blank, and so was Lawrence's.

The date was from three days ago.

He had zero memory of this piece of paper.

Ms. Miller said, "The notice was sent to the parent group chat and placed in the boy's backpack folder. Ms. Whitaker used to check everything in advance, but this time she said she wanted Leo to try communicating with you himself."

Lawrence scowled. "Are you blaming me?"

Ms. Miller stiffened under his glare but held her ground. "I'm saying the boy is terrified he did something wrong. He just kept asking me if Mom didn't come because he failed to get your signature."

A heavy lump formed in Lawrence's throat.

As they reached the school gates, the boy suddenly asked, "Dad, is Mom never going to come again?"

Lawrence stopped in his tracks.

He wanted to say no.

Wren was his wife; she was Leo's mother. How could she really just stop caring?

But as the words reached his lips, he remembered Wren's parting words in the manor hallway: "See you in court."

He stayed silent for too long, and Leo drew his own conclusions.

The boy turned his face toward the window and didn't ask again.

Before the car even reached the Langford Estate, Eleanor called.

"Lawrence, where are you? The hospital just said my follow-up appointment was canceled. What's going on?"

Lawrence checked the time. "What follow-up?"

Eleanor's voice skyrocketed. "You didn't know? I have a follow-up check every month around this time. Wren always arranged it—the car, the registration, the reports, the doctors, she sorted it all out. Today the driver said no one notified him, and the hospital didn't confirm anything."