Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 338

"Keep reading."

They spent the rest of the time finishing the picture book. Lawrence also helped him assemble a small Lego set. Leo built at a painstakingly slow pace, checking the instruction manual before placing every single piece. Lawrence almost took over several times just to get it done, but he managed to stop himself.

At 5:18 PM, Leo checked the clock on the wall.

"It's time."

Lawrence was still holding a Lego brick.

For the first time in his life, he realized just how short fifty minutes really was.

It was so short that before he could even figure out who his son's friends were, what he had eaten for lunch, or if he was still having nightmares, the time had already run out.

Ms. Miller knocked and entered the room.

Leo hopped out of his chair, returned the picture book to the shelf, and packed the unfinished Legos back into their box.

Lawrence picked up the gift box.

"Take this."

Leo immediately looked at Ms. Miller.

She didn't make the decision for him, simply saying, "It's your choice."

Leo hesitated for a long moment before reaching out to take the box.

"Thank you, Dad."

Lawrence's thumb brushed against his son's hand. It was ice cold.

He wanted to hold it, but after that brief touch, the boy was already hugging the box to his chest and turning away.

Wren was standing under the tree by the school gate.

When Leo saw her, his pace quickened. Halfway there, he abruptly stopped, as if remembering something, and looked back at Lawrence.

"Goodbye, Dad."

Lawrence stood in the doorway of the academic building and offered a stiff nod.

Wren knelt down to take the boy's backpack. She didn't press him about how the visitation went; she simply wiped a thin layer of sweat from his forehead.

"Ready to go home?"

Hugging his gift box, Leo looked up at her.

"He didn't make me wait today."

Wren's eyes softened.

She gently patted his head.

"That's wonderful."

The boy thought for a second, then added softly, "He didn't take me anywhere else, either."

"That's also wonderful."

Lawrence heard every word.

Standing just a few feet away, he felt as though someone had forcefully shoved him backward.

He had given this child the world in the past. Toys, mansions, the Langford name, the prestige of their family halo. Yet all his son cared to remember today was that he had shown up on time, hadn't dragged him to an unapproved location, and hadn't forced him to wait.

The depot management had formally received the legal notice. However, right before 9:00 AM, someone using a fake name and claiming to be a "Whitaker representative" had attempted to pull the security footage for Unit 3 for the past three months. The request was denied.

Immediately after, Phoebe sent a blurry photo.

In the image, the black van was still parked across from the depot, its window cracked open just a sliver. A man wearing a face mask sat in the backseat, only half his face caught on camera.

Phoebe followed up with a furious voice memo.

"I got this from a convenience store camera nearby. This guy was there before you even arrived, and he tailed you all the way to the main road. Wren, someone is desperately trying to beat you to Unit 3."

Wren stopped at the crosswalk.

The red light counted down from twenty-six seconds.

Leo looked up at her. "Mom?"

She locked her phone screen and smiled down at him.

"It's nothing. Let's go home and grab some dinner."

The light turned green, and the crowd surged forward.

Wren held Leo's hand as they crossed the street, the evening wind catching the hem of her coat. The traffic roared behind them like a murky, turbulent river.

She didn't look back.

Some doors remained shut today, and some shadows had finally revealed themselves.

That was enough.

Tomorrow, she would find a different key.