Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 341

Wren looked at him.

He didn't say, "Let me investigate for you," nor did he say, "Don't shoulder this alone." He simply laid out his exact expertise and left the final decision entirely in her hands.

That level of boundaries provided immense comfort, yet made it intimidating to step too close.

"Thank you," she said. "If I manage to retrieve the files, I'll take you up on that."

A faint smile touched Julian's eyes.

"It's no trouble at all."

In the lounge, Leo had looked up at some point and was watching them.

Daisy followed his gaze and smiled. "That's my brother."

Leo nodded. "I know. I heard my grandmother talk about him during an argument."

"Are you scared of him?"

Leo shook his head, then hesitated.

"He doesn't seem like someone who yells."

Daisy laughed at that, then said seriously, "He gets mad too."

Leo tightened his grip on his marker, asking quietly, "Does he get scared when you're sad?"

Daisy didn't answer immediately.

The fading light from the window fell across her face, softening her expression. Over those grueling years of treatment abroad, she had seen Julian terrified more times than she could count. Through their video calls, he always put up a calm front, asking if she was in pain, if she had eaten enough, if she had gone outside to get some sun.

But one time, the connection lagged, freezing the screen, and she saw that his eyes were completely red.

That was the moment she realized her brother got scared too.

He just boxed it up and hid it away so it wouldn't crush her.

"Yes," Daisy said. "But he eventually learned that being scared doesn't mean he gets to make choices for me."

Leo only half-understood.

Julian walked over and stopped by the table, making sure not to bend over and encroach on the boy's drawing space.

"May I see?"

Leo pushed the paper forward.

Julian looked at the blue pause button and the sentence written beside it: *I don't want to smile right now.*

Daisy looked surprised. "You're not keeping it for yourself?"

Leo started drawing a smaller one on a new sheet.

"I'll make another one."

Julian took the paper, its edge jagged where the boy had hastily torn it. He accepted it with utmost seriousness, folding it carefully and tucking it into his shirt pocket.

"Thank you."

Wren stood off to the side, a sudden lump forming in her throat.

Leo had given Lawrence so many things over the years. Kindergarten crafts, lopsided crayon drawings, misspelled birthday cards. And Lawrence’s assistants would always pack them away, or the maids would toss them into some storage cabinet.

Lawrence probably did love his son.

But his love was so heavily managed and curated by others that he needed to be constantly reminded to actually appreciate anything.

It started raining that evening.

A light, steady drizzle pattered against Stellaris’s glass awning. When Wren and Leo walked out, Julian already had an umbrella open. Daisy was standing next to him, typing a text on her phone.

"I'm driving Daisy home, and we're passing right by your neighborhood," Julian offered. "If you'd like, you can catch a ride to your street corner."