Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 136

Lawrence was shut down once again.

He found himself increasingly incapable of talking to this current version of Wren.

Because she no longer revolved around his emotions.

She only focused on the facts.

And the facts rarely stood on his side.

Lawrence ultimately didn't sit down to eat.

He stood by the booth, looking like a glaringly out-of-place spectator, watching as Wren pushed the remaining half-bowl of soup toward Leo, watching as the boy slowly finished it, watching as they discussed what kind of glue and cardboard to prep for Wednesday.

He suddenly felt profoundly annoyed by this diner.

Annoyed by the stuffy heat, annoyed by that cheap bowl of soup, and annoyed by the fact that Wren looked more at ease here than she ever did at the Langford Estate.

Before leaving, he dropped a final sentence. "I'll have my driver take him back tonight."

Wren replied, "No need. I'll drop him off at the school gates. The driver can pick him up there."

Lawrence's footsteps halted.

It was yet another boundary line.

Clear, unyielding, effectively stripping him of any excuse to casually bring her back to the estate along the way.

He didn't look back, simply pushing the door open and walking out.

The bell above the door jingled softly.

Watching his retreating figure, Leo whispered, "Is Dad mad?"

Wren didn't say no.

"He might be."

"Did I make him upset again?"

"No," Wren said. "Dad's emotions belong to Dad."

Leo looked down at the last spoonful of soup in his bowl.

After a long while, he finished it.

"Mom, if Dad forgets on Wednesday, it's okay for me to be sad, but I don't have to make up excuses for him, right?"

A lump formed in Wren's throat.

"Right."

She reached out and ruffled his hair.

This time, the boy didn't shrink away.

At three in the afternoon, Wren dropped Leo off at the school gates.

His driver was already waiting there.

The moment she got into her car, she received a text from an unknown number.

It was a single sentence.

[Want to know what Vivian Vance left behind? Tomorrow, 8 PM. The Southside Medical Archives. Come alone.]

Wren stared at the text message, her fingers tightening fractionally around her phone.

Vivian Vance.

That name was like a nail that had been buried for years, finally piercing through the dirt.

She didn't reply immediately.

Instead, she screenshotted it, saved it, and forwarded the number to Phoebe.

Then, she looked up at the world outside the car window.

The city traffic flowed endlessly as the dusk slowly clamped down around her.

On one side, Stellaris's project was being systematically cornered by Langford Medical.

On the other, her mother's past had suddenly ripped open at the seams.

Wren suddenly realized that the moment she handed over the divorce papers, Lawrence Langford wasn't the only thing she was going to have to face.

She was stepping right into a much older, far deeper web.

And this time, she couldn't rely on silence to survive.