Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 140

She would have to accept the gazes of those old board members, business partners, and the media alongside him.

No matter how desperately she wanted to leave, for that one night, she would be forced to play out the charade of an intact marriage with him.

Lawrence knew this line of thinking lacked any shred of dignity.

It was even a bit despicable.

But he didn't stop himself from indulging in it.

Because for the first time in days, he felt as if he had finally grabbed hold of something again.

Back at Stellaris, after hanging up the phone, Wren placed it back on her desk.

Phoebe looked at her. "He wants you to play Mrs. Langford?"

"Pretty much."

Maya frowned. "Are you really going?"

Wren nodded. "I have to."

Phoebe didn't try to stop her, merely asking, "For Vivian?"

"And for the project," Wren added. "Langford Medical is already winning the narrative war on patient advocacy. This foundation gala is going to be packed with hospital executives, media personnel, and veterans of the old medical circuit. If Stellaris sits this out, we lose our platform entirely."

Maya still looked furious. "But they're going to weaponize your marriage to Lawrence."

"They will."

"Wren, doesn't that bother you?"

Wren fell silent for a moment.

Did it bother her?

Of course it did.

She despised the title, and she hated being dragged right back to Lawrence's side like an unreturned piece of property.

But she was no longer the woman from six years ago, trapped by the need to maintain appearances.

In the past, she feared people witnessing the cracks in her marriage, feared humiliating the Langford family, feared her child becoming gossip fodder, and feared becoming a walking joke.

Now, her fears had shifted.

She feared that the truth her mother left behind would remain buried forever.

She feared that Stellaris's mission would be permanently erased by Langford Medical's narrative while she stayed silent.

She feared that by running away from Lawrence, she would simply hand over everything she was meant to reclaim.

"I hate it," Wren said. "But I'm not going to hand over the battlefield just because I hate it."

Wren didn't reply to the text.

She simply saved both messages and forwarded them to her lawyer and Phoebe as backups.

Then, she looked down at the two items sitting on her desk.

On one side was the invitation addressing 'Mr. Lawrence Langford and his wife, Mrs. Wren Whitaker.'

On the other was the threat from an unknown number.

One demanded she play pretend.

The other demanded she drop the truth.

Wren suddenly found it incredibly ironic.

In the past, maintaining the perfect facade was the very thing she did best at the Langford Estate.

Now, everyone was trying to shove that facade back into her hands, demanding she shut her mouth, paste on a smile, and stop asking questions.

But they were forgetting one crucial detail.

Once a person has decided never to look back, maintaining appearances stops being a rope that binds them.

It could also be her ticket into the arena.