25. Everett

EVERETT

T he bruise under my eye throbs like a time bomb as I step out of the bakery and make my way out into the frozen afternoon.

The icy breeze stings as it brushes against my eye, and it's just a physical reminder of the chaos unfurling in my life.

I'm about to jump into my car when I spot Evie and her boyfriend Conner a few feet away, both staring down at their phones looking as if they've fallen into a trance.

Evie is bundled up, yet fashionable, with her signature look of a short jacket, ripped jeans, and tall boots. Conner looks as if he's just done combat out in a snow flurry as he's covered head to foot in powder. Most likely because he really got into that snowman building competition.

Conner Saint is a six-foot-three wall of muscles, and thankfully he's got the brains to match. He has boyish looks and blond hair and has dreams of joining the sheriff's department one day. Both Conner and Evie are freshmen at Ashford University.

"Dad!" Evie is about to hug me when she stops cold at the sight of my face. "What the heck happened? Let me guess, you made some smart-aleck remark about Uncle Noah's snowman and he let his fist play judge and jury?"

"Very funny," I say. "Actually, I did make a smart-aleck remark about his snowman, but he took it like a champ. This shiner is courtesy of the stepfather of one of my brand new daughters. He's the one that let his fist play the part of judge and jury."

Conner grunts, "I hope you had Noah arrest him. That's exactly what's wrong with our society today. People think they can get away with anything."

"True," I muse. "But I didn't pursue it. I get that he's mad. I'm afraid I opened a Pandora's box with this one."

"You bet you did," Evie says. "Harper Harper has decided she's single-handedly going to ruin our lives."

" Your lives?" I thunder out the words in a fury.

Evie shrugs. "Conner and I sort of took to defending you in this whole creeper judge mess, and now there's a new hashtag trending—TakeDownEvilCon-Evie. That's the ship name she gave us. Anyway, we're like handling things right now. With all the mean girls I've dealt with, I'm a CEO at this stuff. If she keeps up the hate, she'll eventually get shadow-banned."

"Shadow what?"

"Don't worry," Conner says. "We've got a CMS for our SMPs."

"A what on your what?" I never thought I'd see the day when I felt so out of touch with the youth.

A part of me says just put yourself out to pasture as far as your own youth is concerned. I'm not only over the hill, I've crested it a long time ago.

"A content management system for our social media platforms," Evie says a notch too loud as if suddenly I were hard of hearing on top of being senile.

"As you should," I say, still unsure what I'm agreeing to. "Look, I'm going to take care of this for you."

" No ," they both shout at once as if I were about to step into a burning building.

Heck, it feels as if I'm trapped in one at the moment.

"No way, Dad," Evie says adamantly. "We're, like, getting hundreds of new followers on our socials by the hour. I haven't seen this kind of traffic to my stuff in months."

"Same." Conner nods. "This is the exact infusion we've been needing to take us to the next level. There's no way we're going to let you ruin this for us."

"What he said." Evie nods as well.

"Good grief." I offer Evie a kiss and charge them both with keeping an eye out for things and staying safe before I drive down to Ashford.

When I arrive, there are still a few young girls with picket signs walking around the front of the courthouse, and most of those signs have a picture of my face with a red circle with a line through it. I guess that means I'm canceled. Believe me, I'd love to cancel myself right about now. I'd love to cancel all of this negative attention to be exact.

I park and bolt in through the back entrance before making my way to my office, trying to ignore the looks and whispers of my coworkers.

Wonderful.

Harper Harper is out to destroy me—and for what? Giving her life?

I mumble a quick hello to my secretary as I make a beeline for my chambers.

"Judge Baxter, the court clerk dropped something off at your desk."

"Thank you," I say, heading in and sealing the door behind me.

Sure enough, there's a stack of papers sitting there waiting for me.

"The court clerk?" I say as I make my way over and land in my chair. Typically, the court clerk doesn't come anywhere near my chambers.

I pick up the stack and riffle through it.

" Wrongful life suit? " I groan in disbelief before reading on. "In the court of Ashford County, civil action number 7364, Harper Harper, Plaintiff, versus Essex Everett Baxter, Defendant." I shake my head at the lunacy of it all before reading on.

"You are hereby notified that Harper Harper, the Plaintiff, has filed a lawsuit against you in the Court of Ashford County. This lawsuit pertains to allegations of a wrongful life claim arising from actions and decisions attributed to you in your capacity as a human.

"The Plaintiff, Harper Harper, alleges that the Defendant, Essex Everett Baxter, engaged in conduct that directly contributed to a situation deemed as wrongful life , causing significant harm and detriment to the Plaintiff's quality of existence. Specific allegations include failure to act at the time of conception, negligence at the time of conception, and any action considered to have led to the claimed wrongful life situation."

"Geez." I close my eyes.

The rest of the afternoon doesn't go much better. I spend the next few hours deep-diving into the allegations against the Family Tree Tracker app. And as it turns out, there's an entire litany of lawsuits that mostly have to do with wrongful results that caused proficient damage in the lives of the innocent.

Wrongful results.

I'll admit, those words ricochet in my skull like a gunshot. They can mean anything. I can have no new children or I can have twelve more.

I'm not entirely sure how to take this new development.

A knock erupts at the door just as Noah steps into my office.

"It's almost five," he says as he takes a seat across from me. "Are you ready to find out your fate?"

"Ready and waiting," I say.

My phone rings and it's our friend from the FBI.

I glare at it for a second before picking it up.

"Judge Baxter speaking."