Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 236

The corner of Julian's mouth quirked up slightly. "I know."

Phoebe watched the two of them from the side but kept her thoughts to herself.

She merely nudged a takeout container closer to Wren's hand.

"Eat first. If you don't, the person finding the mistakes is going to collapse."

Only then did Wren realize she had survived on nothing but half a cup of coffee since noon.

She picked up her fork.

The rice had gone a bit cold, but as she ate, a comforting warmth slowly spread through her stomach.

Past 9:00 PM, the first complete draft was finally assembled.

Maya slumped back in her chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. "I declare the 'Opt-Out' button to be the pinnacle of human civilization."

Daisy raised her hand. "The patient consultant concurs."

Phoebe saved the file methodically, her tone entirely unfazed. "Save the civilization talk. We have a 9:00 AM meeting tomorrow."

Maya immediately squeezed her eyes shut. "I am officially deceased."

Wren emailed the final draft to the Ethics Board secretary and forwarded a backup copy to Mr. Lawson.

Once it was done, she checked her phone.

There were no new messages from Leo.

Nor from Lawrence.

There was only a single photo.

In the picture, Leo had fallen asleep on his small bed, his arms wrapped securely around the unfinished building block house. A small bedside lamp cast a warm glow over a glass of water resting nearby.

The photo had been sent by Lawrence.

Beneath it was a single line of text.

"He's asleep."

Wren stared at the image for a long time.

It shouldn't have been a big deal.

A father sending a mother a photo of their sleeping child was supposed to be the most ordinary thing in the world.

But between them, it felt like a mundane gesture that had arrived a lifetime too late.

She replied with two words.

"Message received."

No thank you.

No praise for his effort.

Sitting outside Leo's room, Lawrence stared at those two words, his expression growing heavy beneath the dim hallway lights.

He set his phone down and pushed open the door to the child's room.

Leo was sound asleep, his little fingers still gripping the roof of the block house.

Lawrence walked over and gently pulled the blanket up over the boy's shoulders.

His movements were clumsy.

But they were far gentler than the day before.

"Leo's asleep."

"I know. You sent the photo."

Lawrence stood up.

He watched her head toward the stairs, trying to bite his tongue, but he couldn't hold back. "Wren."

She stopped.

Lawrence walked to the bottom of the staircase, looking up at her.

"Are you happy when you're at Stellaris?"

The question caught her off guard.

Wren looked back at him. The staircase lighting illuminated the undeniable exhaustion on her face, yet her eyes remained piercingly clear.

She thought about it for a moment, then said, "No. Our project is stalled, our materials were scrapped, and the entire team worked overtime until just now."

Lawrence stared at her in silence.

"But when I'm there, I know exactly what I'm doing," she finished.

With that, she turned and continued up the stairs.

Lawrence stood frozen in place.

It wasn't that she had magically discovered a new world after leaving the Langfords.

That world had always been there.

It was just that in the past, for his sake, for their child's sake, and for the Langford Estate, she had relentlessly dragged herself out of it, time and time again.