CHAPTER 27
Evie
At least the week had gone by quickly. I had taken today off because I had to be in court at nine for the ridiculous lawsuit my ex had filed against me. My lawyer had said it would only take an hour or two of my Friday, that the judge would hear any motions and the trial calendar would likely be set. It was the absolute last thing I felt like doing after Merrick’s disappearing act this week, but I tried to make the best of a day off and scheduled my bed for delivery this afternoon. I could finally move into my apartment this weekend.
I arrived at the courthouse early and waited outside at the top of the steps for my lawyer, but while I scanned the crowd coming in, I saw Christian instead. The jerk had the balls to wave. I greeted him with a less friendly flick of my hand—flipping him the middle finger.
This week had been such an emotional one, and seeing his face brought so much animosity to the surface. I hadn’t heard from Merrick again after his short text response on Monday, and seeing Christian was a flashing-neon-sign reminder that I had misplaced my heart and my trust before.
It all bubbled to a boil once we got to the courtroom.
“Your Honor,” my lawyer said. “I have a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Even if everything in the plaintiff’s petition were true, Mr. Halpern has no damages.”
Christian’s lawyer shook his head. “His reputation has been ruined by the defendant, Your Honor.”
I leaned forward and scowled at my ex. “I think your reputation was ruined by you sleeping with my best friend the night before our wedding.”
The judge narrowed his eyes at our table. “Please keep your client from speaking out of turn. She’ll get to say her piece when the time comes.”
Yeah, like any of this would bring me peace. I rolled my eyes but shut up.
My lawyer responded. “Yes, Your Honor. But back to the matter at hand. There is nothing in the petition that remotely indicates how Mr. Halpern was harmed that he should be made whole by my client. What is the basis of any damage claim? How was it calculated?”
“The damages are non-economic,” Christian’s lawyer said. “He was humiliated, suffered emotional anguish, had a loss of enjoyment of activities—”
I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward again. “He was humiliated? He suffered a loss of enjoyment?”
The judge wagged his finger. “Not another peep, Ms. Vaughn. I’m warning you.”
My attorney held up his hand. “Could I have a word with my client, Your Honor?”
“By all means.” The judge threw up his hands. “We have nothing better to do with our time this morning.”
“Just one moment, Your Honor.”
My lawyer leaned over to me. “You’re going to wind up locked up for contempt if you don’t listen. This is the judge who’s going to rule over a trial, if it comes to that. You do not want to start off like this.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Sorry.”
My lawyer held my eyes. “Tread lightly.”
I managed to refrain from speaking for the next forty-five minutes. In the end, the judge set a trial date, but stressed that he believed it was in both our best interests to settle the matter out of court.
After it was over, my attorney and I spoke for a while in the hall. Then he had to go upstairs to a different hearing, so I headed out on my own. As I made my way down the marble stairs, Christian was suddenly by my side.
“Can we talk for a minute?” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I want to put this behind us as much as you do.”
I kept walking. “So drop the lawsuit.”
“I will…if you just have dinner with me.”
That stopped me in my tracks. My entire face wrinkled. “What?”
“Have dinner with me. And I’ll drop the lawsuit.”