Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 444

"You'll be fine. You're the project director; assigning privileges is well within your jurisdiction. At worst, they'll slap you with a procedural violation and make you write a formal explanation. But it's different for me! Lawrence doesn't trust me anymore. If Langford Medical throws me to the wolves, I'll lose everything."

She cried beautifully.

The rain, the tears, the tragically pale face.

It violently reminded Jude of the first time he'd seen her in the Langford hallways years ago. She had just been publicly humiliated by the project team, clutching her files to her chest, her eyes bloodshot but refusing to let the tears fall.

She had looked up at him and whispered, "Jude, am I always going to be inferior to Wren?"

Back then, his heart had ached for her.

He'd ached for a girl who was destroying herself just to be seen.

Later, he practically rewrote her first proposal, fabricated the missing data, and polished her disastrous presentations into something respectable. The first time she was praised in a board meeting, she ran to him afterward, her eyes glowing like a child who'd just been handed a fistful of candy.

"Look, they actually listen to me now," she had beamed.

In that moment, he had been genuinely happy for her.

So, when she demanded more, he gave it to her, over and over again.

Until she started cannibalizing other people's lives to build her own throne.

Jude yanked his wrist from her grip.

"Willow, I can admit that I gave you access in the past."

Willow's eyes lit up.

"I can also admit that I drafted your materials and fabricated your protocols," his voice was dangerously low. "Those are the facts, after all."

Hope blossomed across her face.

The very next second, Jude destroyed it. "But I will absolutely not claim I authorized you to download those medical grievances. And I will not lie and say you had nothing to do with that doctored audio."

Willow froze entirely.

"Jude..."

"I will not perjure myself for you."

The words were spoken softly, yet they echoed with the brutal finality of a slamming vault door.