Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 280

Now that she was no longer keeping the peace, his first reaction was still to think she was being too abrasive.

Lawrence called Willow.

It rang for a long time before she answered.

The line was quiet. After a moment, Willow spoke softly, "Lawrence."

Her voice was hoarse.

She had been crying.

Lawrence didn't beat around the bush. "Why did you go to the school?"

Willow fell silent for a few seconds before murmuring, "Eleanor said Wren might be busy, and I just wanted to go and wait. I was going to leave as soon as she arrived."

"What about the sticker?"

Her breath hitched.

"I... I saw Leo's tag was falling off, so I wanted to pin it for him. The teachers asked who I was, and I didn't want to make things awkward for the child by explaining it all, so I just wrote Aunt-Mom."

The excuse was fragile.

So fragile it would shatter at the slightest touch.

But Lawrence could only see the photo in his mind.

That sticker hadn't been written on a whim.

It was cut perfectly, and the color matched the name tag. She clearly hadn't just grabbed a scrap of paper in the classroom.

"You prepared it in advance."

The line went dead silent.

Lawrence closed his eyes. "Willow, stop using Leo for this kind of stunt."

A soft sob came through the phone.

"I know you blame me right now," she cried. "I blame myself too. But Lawrence, I really just wanted to help. Wren hates me so much; she thinks everything I do is an attack. When Leo told the whole class I wasn't his family today, I was so humiliated."

Lawrence frowned.

"He's six and a half."

"I know," Willow answered quickly. "That's why I don't blame him. I just feel... he never used to be like this."

At those words, Lawrence opened his eyes.

He understood what she was implying.

But his expression didn't soften.

Because the phone call didn't make him feel like the issue was resolved; it only made it glaringly obvious that Willow was testing the Langford family's boundaries.

And worse, Eleanor was going to protect her.

Sure enough, when Lawrence returned to the estate that evening, Eleanor was waiting in the living room.

The second he walked in, she started. "Did you find out what happened? Willow has been crying all afternoon. She's an unmarried girl who went out of her way to help, and that boy humiliated her in public! Wren just stood there and watched! What is her problem?"

Handing his coat to a servant, Lawrence's tone was flat. "Willow altered Leo's name tag first."

Eleanor scowled. "So what if she added Aunt-Mom? She is his aunt! What's wrong with the child calling her Aunt-Mom?"

"Leo didn't want it."

"What does a little kid know about what he wants?" Eleanor's voice spiked. "Wren told him he didn't want it, so of course he's going to repeat it!"

Soft footsteps echoed from the stairs.

Wren was leading Leo down.

The boy hadn't talked much since they got home. Wren had wanted to put him to bed early, but Ms. Miller had advised not making him feel like he was being punished, so they were heading down for dinner as usual.

They didn't expect to hear that the moment they hit the stairs.