Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 231

Inside the Stellaris conference room, she sat at the far end of the long table, a stack of project files resting by her hand.

She looked thinner than she had in college.

Her gaze was heavier, too.

She no longer had that bright, unburdened aura from her youth; when she spoke, she paused, as if burying her emotions deep inside before selecting the perfect words.

But when she discussed system risks, patient authorization, and manual reviews, her tone remained exactly the same.

Clear.

Responsible.

Unflinching.

After the meeting ended, Julian York stood in the hallway and watched her take a call from the Langford Estate.

He did not know what was said on the other end, but her shoulders noticeably stiffened.

Yet she did not break down.

She did not complain.

She only murmured, "I'll come back, but I won't go back to how things were."

Standing a few steps away, Julian did not approach her.

He knew he could not step forward.

She was still married.

Even if that marriage was hopelessly shattered, she was still entangled in it. If the sympathy of an outsider crossed the line, it would only become another burden for her to carry.

All he could do was execute his role in the project flawlessly.

Offer professional advice when she faced doubts.

Stand up for her when she needed clinical support.

He could not let his affection become a pressure on her.

He had maintained that delicate boundary for many years.

"Julian."

Daisy York's voice pulled him from his memories.

In the coffee shop downstairs from Stellaris, Daisy sat across from him, cradling a cup of hot cocoa. She wore a loose knit sweater today, her hair a bit longer than when she first returned from abroad, and though her complexion remained pale, she was in good spirits.

Spread out on the table was the new patient interview brief drafted by Stellaris.

Daisy reviewed it for a long time before suddenly looking up. "Do you have feelings for Wren?"

The hand Julian used to hold his cup paused.

The rising steam from the coffee blurred the momentary flash of emotion in his eyes.

Understanding dawned on her, and she slowly released the straw from her lips.

"She was in love with someone else back then?"

Julian said nothing.

His silence was the answer.

Daisy sighed heavily. "You adults are so complicated."

Julian offered a faint smile. "You're barely out of your teens."

"When I was doing rehab abroad, the woman in the room next to mine was in her fifties, and she still video-called her first love to argue every single day," Daisy said with utter seriousness. "Romance has nothing to do with age. It's all about whether people are too stubborn for their own good."

Julian felt a helpless amusement at her words.

"Just focus on the documents first."

"I read them." Daisy pushed the brief across the table to him. "It's written with care, but there are still glaring issues."

Julian looked down.

She had circled several sections with a pen.

"It says here that 'the system will record patient rehabilitation feedback,' which sounds secure enough. But if I were the patient, I'd wonder if every single word I said was going to be stored. What if the vulnerabilities I don't want the doctors to know end up turning into cold data?"

Julian stared at the circled words, his expression growing serious.