Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 394

"Report it now?"

Jude met her stare. "Now."

"The gala is next week, and Thorne Corp just secured their regulatory seat." Willow lowered her voice. "Handing this to them now is like announcing to the world that Langford's project is a massive liability."

Jude's expression turned frigid. "It is already a liability."

"I didn't say we shouldn't handle it," Willow said, stepping closer to the desk. "Let Langford handle the family internally first. Offer compensation, apologize, and swap in a professional therapist. Once the kid stabilizes, we file a delayed risk report."

The service supervisor stood frozen to the side, too terrified to breathe.

Jude stared at Willow. "You want to bury this."

Willow's expression shifted.

"I am minimizing the damage."

"Damage to whom?" Jude asked.

The question brought a lethal chill to Willow's eyes.

She quickly forced her emotions down, softening her tone. "Jude, of course we need to deal with Logan's situation. But you know as well as I do that Langford Medical, the Xander Fund, and Thorne Corp are all watching this project like hawks. Wren is already pushing her pediatric active consent model. If we blow up now, Stellaris will use Langford as a stepping stone to the top."

Jude fell silent for a few seconds.

"So, what you really care about is losing to her."

"I care about the project dying," Willow retorted, holding his gaze. "Do you think Clara is going to play nice? This is exactly the kind of weakness she's waiting for. Harrison won't let it slide either. Once the Langford family companionship project gets shut down, all the work everyone put in goes up in smoke."

She paused, her voice dropping to a murmur.

"And I'll go up in smoke with it."

That last sentence was barely a whisper.

The service supervisor kept her head bowed, a sour feeling washing over her.

But Jude didn't waver like he used to.

He just felt suffocated in this room.

A child had cried until he threw up, a mother was breaking down on the phone, and the internal group chat was still discussing "gala material." Yet Willow's very first thought was whether the project would survive, and whether she would lose her position.

It was all too familiar.

So familiar that he started wondering how many of those times she claimed she was wronged in the past were just her flipping the narrative to protect herself.

Jude picked up his phone. "Supervisor, stay here and compile the complete logs. Willow, step out."

She reached the door, then stopped.

"Don't regret this later, Jude."

Once the door clicked shut, the supervisor looked up at Jude, her voice trembling. "Mr. Sinclair, are we really going to report this?"

Jude handed her phone back.

"Report it."

"What about Ms. Whitaker..."

"Write it strictly by the protocol. Leave personal opinions out of it."

The supervisor nodded, though her eyes were a little red.

She was devastated, too.

She had hired those companions. She had run their training. In the beginning, she truly believed they were going to help these families. But the project moved too fast, the PR push was too aggressive, Willow wanted case studies, Langford Medical wanted gala material, and everyone just wanted to see a picture of a smiling child.

No one wanted to see the kid who didn't want to smile.

When Willow got back to her office, the very first thing she did was call Lawrence.