Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 133

That Sunday, Wren didn't go to the Langford Estate to pick up Leo.

She set the meeting place at the local diner near his school.

The place wasn't large; an old sign hung above the entrance, and a crisp bell jingled whenever the glass door was pushed open. It was crowded at noon, and the warmth radiating from the kitchen mixed with the savory scent of toasted bread, hot coffee, and simmering broth—a snapshot of a very ordinary, comforting life.

When Wren arrived, Leo was already sitting at a window booth.

He didn't have a driver accompanying him inside today; he had worn his own backpack and seated himself. His backpack was zipped tightly shut, and he was clutching the repaired space station model to his chest.

Seeing her, he immediately stood up, his lips parting.

"Mom."

Wren walked over, taking off her scarf and draping it over the back of her chair.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Leo shook his head. "No."

He paused, then added, "I got here ten minutes early."

Wren looked at his deeply serious expression, and her heart softened.

"Then next time, you can arrive five minutes early. Ten minutes is a bit long."

Leo froze for a second.

In the past, he would have thought his mother found him troublesome or that he had done something wrong. But now, he was slowly starting to understand that she wasn't reprimanding him.

She was teaching him that waiting for someone didn't require shrinking himself down.

The diner owner walked over with two bowls of soup, smiling. "Back again? The usual—one bowl of chicken noodle without parsley, and one with extra crackers?"

Wren nodded. "Thank you."

Leo looked down at the bowl in front of him and whispered, "You remembered."

"I remembered," Wren said, handing him a spoon. "But if your tastes change in the future, you can always tell me."

Leo clutched the spoon, the rims of his eyes suddenly turning a little red.

He had been like this a lot lately.

A completely ordinary sentence was enough to make a small corner of his heart ache.

Because he used to be so accustomed to guessing adults' moods, so used to trading his obedience just to keep everyone from getting angry. Now that his mother was telling him he could change, that he could say no, and that he didn't have to apologize instantly, he simply didn't know how to handle all this newfound freedom.

Wren didn't rush him.

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