Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 34

"She's the most precious thing I have ever seen!" she woman gushed. "I didn't know your brother had a child" she said, turning her attention back to Elena.

"He doesn't" Elena answered. "She's my husband's niece."

"Oh" the woman said, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation now. What little Elena had told the office about her marriage to Stefan was hardly ever discussed at a later time. Elena often described her and Stefan as being separated and needing some space. That is the excuse she used when one of her male co-workers had asked her out on a date. He was a nice enough guy. He just wasn't Stefan. It was hard to move on when your heart was somewhere else.

In reality though, Elena knew that her marriage was over. That was why she had stopped wearing her wedding ring. She had cried herself to sleep the first night she took it off and placed it in the top drawer of her dresser. "Well, have a good night in" her co-worker said, bidding Elena goodbye and disappearing out of the room. Elena sighed. It felt so forced to bring up Stefan in a conversation with anyone. It was difficult just thinking about him.

So it really was no surprise to her then when she received a large envelope from a Mr. John Henderson, Stefan's lawyer from New York. She had ran across his name a few times when she had first met Stefan because Stefan had been so concerned about protecting what was his. Elena had wondered how long it would take for Stefan to sign the divorce papers and get her a copy too. She had to laugh when she saw the high cost of postage on the envelope. The lawyer had sent it overnight. Apparently, Stefan couldn't stand to be married to her for one more day.

She stared at the envelope on her desk for a moment, knowing what it was, but not wanting to open it just yet. A failed marriage, before her 24th birthday. She laughed at the thought. A failed fake marriage, rather. When she thought about it, she had been a pretty lousy wife. She couldn't cook and she only ever did her own laundry. She was so focused on school that Stefan's needs probably were second to her own. Then, the best of all occurred. She had run out on him. Yes, she definitely did not deserve to be called wife of the year.

But Elena knew she needed to open the envelope and sign the divorce papers. The sooner, the better. For both of them. She wasn't moving back. He wasn't speaking to her. It was time to officially move on.

She stared at the envelope once again before grabbing it and tearing it open. She pulled out a small stack of papers, each page flagged with a sticky tab, indicating where she needed to sign or initial. But as she glanced at the first page, her brow furrowed. These weren't divorce papers. No. These were something completely different.

They were papers designating her as the beneficiary to Stefan's estate. She flipped through the pages frantically, reading over everything she was entitled to upon his death. His bank accounts, stocks, various properties and houses she didn't know about, his car, his share in the family business, and even the 12 million dollars he had just inherited. What really confused her was that no one else was listed in the document to receive anything from Stefan. Not Damon and really surprisingly, not Lily.

It didn't make sense. He wasn't even speaking to her. Maybe, she thought, he appointed her as the beneficiary and had given her everything to make their marriage look more real in the beginning and he just forgot to undo it. His lawyer probably just got confused and sent her a copy. Yes, that made sense. But, she was going to call his lawyer just to confirm.

Elena dialed the number provided and waited impatiently for him to pick up. "John Henderson speaking" a voice said.

"This is Elena Gil ... Salvatore" she corrected. "I just received some legal documents from your office" she stated.

"Ah, yes, Mrs. Salvatore" he said. She almost flinched at the sound of her last name. "Did you have any questions concerning what you needed to sign?" he asked.