Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 399

Charles pushed the photo back. "Project Morning Star Phase II was originally intended to build a pediatric recovery data model. Langford provided the platform, and the outsourced party handled data scrubbing and model training. It sounded cutting-edge, and they pitched it beautifully in the meetings."

Phoebe asked, "Was Brightstone the outsourced party?"

Charles shook his head.

"Brightstone was just a front company. I never saw the people who actually received the data."

Wren pressed, "What about Summit Trading?"

Charles looked up.

"You've even dug up Summit."

That statement was answer enough.

Wren's hands slowly curled into fists on her lap.

Charles took a sip of water, his voice raspy.

"Vivian's objections were glaringly clear. Pediatric recovery data has heavily contextual properties. Raw footage, training logs, family interviews—none of it could be separated from secondary guardian consent, and it absolutely could not be handed over to an unvetted third party. She demanded they pause the memorandum and run a supplementary ethics review first."

"And then what happened?" Phoebe asked.

Charles looked out the window.

Down in the courtyard, the old men playing chess began arguing over a move, though their voices held laughter. The upstairs corridor was dead silent, as if existing in a completely different dimension.

"And then she fell ill."

Wren's eyelashes fluttered.

"What about before she got sick?"

Charles didn't look at her.

"They held a closed-door meeting. The arguments were explosive. Vivian slammed a formal objection on the table and declared that if Phase II was signed under that proposal, she would submit a formal, named objection to the regulatory bodies."

Wren's throat felt parched.

"Where is that objection now?"

Charles offered a bitter smile. "You ask me, but I'd like to know that myself."

He pulled a manila envelope from a worn canvas bag beside him.

The edges of the envelope were frayed, the flap sealed with tape.

"This is all I have left."

Phoebe took it and opened it.

Inside were a few photocopied pages.

The paper had yellowed, a corner warped by water damage, blurring much of the text. The top of the first page read: The Project Morning Star Phase II Ethical Discussion Minutes.

...Quentin Whitaker stated that Summit Trading could serve as the entity for data flow and contract liaison...

A large chunk of the page was missing right there.

The bottom half had been ripped off.

Phoebe grimaced. "Who tore this?"

Charles shook his head. "It was like that when I got it. After that meeting, the official minutes were severely delayed. I kept a photocopy of the draft. Later, someone came looking for it, and I told them I lost it while moving."

"Who came looking for it?" Wren asked.

Charles looked at her.

"Someone from the Langford Estate."

Wren's heart plummeted.

"Who?"

"I never saw the actual boss. An assistant came, carrying a letter from The Board Office."

The Board Office.

Those words again.

Wren thought back to Lawrence's official response letter, the missing pages in the old archives, and the corrupted guarantor contacts.