Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 3

This was stupid Elena had decided. Seriously. She didn't even know Stefan. Just because he had said he wasn't a creeper, didn't mean that he wasn't. He could convince her to do this and then stab her to death when he got her alone. She shook the thought from her head. That was a little drastic. Maybe.

On the other hand, this marriage would be legally documented. People would know about it. It would be in the records at city hall. The whole town would hear about it.

She hated this. The whole idea of it. Sure, she had agreed to meet with him. But she was not going through with it.

As soon as Elena stepped into the diner, Stefan immediately waved her over to his booth in the corner. Elena took a deep breath and with her head held high, she made her way over to him. Elena let herself fall into the booth with a thud as he busied himself with papers. "We'll start with these first" he said, sliding a document over to her.

"I'm not doing this" Elena stared blankly. Stefan looked up at her, confused. In his mind, she had already said yes. "I can't subject myself to this. I don't even know you. And why are you looking at me like that!" she said, a little frustrated with him already.

Stefan tilted his head to the side and stared at her for a moment. "I already told you I wasn't a creeper" he reminded with a hint of playfulness in his voice. Elena did not find it funny. Or cute. Or whatever he was trying to be. "You can run a background check on me. I promise it will come up clean. Well, there was that incident in Miami a few years ago that I'm pretty sure might show up. Those cops down there really don't like you borrowing their cars" he winked.

Elena placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together in front of her. "Just because your record doesn't show anything doesn't mean you won't attack me given the first chance you get" Elena stated. "It just means you haven't been caught yet" she said pointedly.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "For God sakes woman, do you really think I would go to all this trouble to devise a plan to get married if all I wanted to do was attack you?" he asked. "If that's what I really wanted to do, I'd just hide outside and grab you when you left work for the night" he said casually, as if making his point in this way was not creepy at all.

Elena had a horrified look on her face. A very horrified look. She stood slowly, watching his every move and ready to scream bloody murder if she had to. Stefan stood, realizing that he may have just blown his chance because of his dumbass remark. "Don't" she warned, pointing a finger at him.

"I was kidding!" he said, throwing is hands up. "Lighten up will ya?" he asked her. Elena's horrified look turned into a glare. "And stop with the glaring. I know I'm an ass" he said, sitting back down. "Just sit, hear me out, and then decide, okay?" he asked. Elena studied him carefully for a moment before carefully sliding back into the booth. Stefan breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, this document right here" he said, tapping it. "Is the prenuptial agreement." Elena grabbed it and glanced at it. "Basically, it says that if we get divorced, which we will in six months' time, you will receive one million dollars from my inheritance. But you can't touch anything else of mine – the cars, the house, the rest of my money, stocks, etcetera" he finished. "Any questions?" he asked.

Elena placed the document on the table and looked him square in the eye. "How do I know you're actually going to give me the money?" she questioned suspiciously. "You claim this document says that I do, but how do I know it will be upheld in court?" she asked.

Stefan smiled. "Leverage" he answered simply and she cocked an eyebrow at this. "I can't get my money without you. I need a real marriage. When we divorce, if I didn't give you your money, I would fully expect you to go running around telling everyone the marriage was fake. Then my inheritance would be taken away and I would be back to living like a peasant" he shrugged.