Repentance
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
Summary: Rivetra Week 2013 Day 1 Prompt
"This is it." Farlan beamed behind Levi in the large mirror's reflection.
Levi didn't reply, fiddling with his tie, pointlessly making sure it was centered.
"We're at the finish line now," Isabel added gleefully.
Farlan checked his watch, slapping Levi on his shoulder. "It's almost time, Levi, let's get going."
His friends walked beside him and they made their way to the altar in the large beautiful garden. Levi had a plastic smile on his face as he greeted and thanked the guests for coming, wondering if any of them saw through his happy facade.
Today was supposed to be happiest day of his life, but Levi felt miserable.
It was a small gathering. Most of the guests were from the bride's side. While everyone settled down and waited for the ceremony to begin, Levi's thoughts turned to how he had met Petra exactly one year from now.
A friend of his had a job at a prestigious country club and had helped Levi score an interview for a position there. Petra had run into him and assumed he was a member. They'd had a great time hanging out and flirting. It was obvious she was very much into him and it wasn't hard—all it took was some social media stalking—to turn into her perfect man and seduce her.
Farlan and Isabel had helped, along with a few of their other friends. But only his childhood friends knew the true extent of the con. The two had taken on large debts and called in all of their favors to help him pull off the con: a sports car, an upscale apartment, fancy clothes, jewelry. Things to help sell the illusion he was somewhat wealthy.
Fortunately for them, Petra had simpler tastes. She thought their dinner dates to small, hidden restaurants or cheap gifts were more about the experience or the thought he put into them, just anything other than a show of money. And it was true to some extent. Levi had put a lot of effort into them to ensure she would enjoy their dates and the gifts. Although it was not because he loved her and wanted to make her happy, but to fool her into thinking he was in love with her and get another step closer to their goal.
Deep down some decent part of him he never knew still existed kept hoping for something to go wrong at the wedding. There was so much, too much, at stake, especially for Isabel and Farlan, that Levi couldn't actively sabotage anything himself for their sakes.
Often times there was an element they couldn't predict, making the con harder to pull off. Everything went so perfectly according to plan, though, that for the first time ever it made him want to scream in frustration.
Petra had a joyous smile on her face the entire evening. As did his friends. But no matter how hard Levi tried he couldn't reach their level of exuberance.
Petra opened her eyes sleepily, a lazy smile stretching across her face. Her voice was still thick with sleep as she said, "Good morning. Were you watching me sleep?"
"You looked so peaceful and happy," Levi murmured. "And so beautiful."
Smile widening, she moved her head in for a soft kiss. Their hands started roaming each other's bodies and he moved on top of her. Their clothes were soon on the floor. Petra sighed at every gentle touch and kiss on her naked skin. Levi entered her slowly, enjoying her expression and the quiet sounds of pleasure that came out of her lovely mouth. She breathed out his name when she came and he followed a minute later with a groan.
Best way to start the day. Levi thought contently.
"I'm making us banana pancakes," Petra said over her shoulder when he joined her after showering.
"I knew I smelled something good." Levi's arms circled his wife's waist, nestling his face into her neck.
Petra giggled and pushed him. "You're tickling me with your breath!" He persisted and tightened his hold. She gasped. "Your pancake is going to burn!"
Reluctantly, he let her go. "Can I help with something?"
"I'm almost done so can you start putting some of the stuff away and clean up?"
They stayed in the house for most of the two weeks. Only leaving to stock up the fridge, to watch a movie, and to enjoy the festival.
"It wasn't the honeymoon we planned, but it's been so wonderful," Petra said as commercials played on the TV, interrupting their show. She lay in his arms, calm and content as Levi stroked her hair lazily, humming in agreement.
The hotel had notified them of a plumbing issue at the last minute, apologizing and refunding their money. Instead of staying back home, they'd decided to take a flight across the country to her dream villa that Petra had bought recently, to spend their honeymoon there.
"I just wish we could stay here."
Maybe we should. Levi wondered if his wife could hear his heart beating faster, lying with the side of her face pressed to his chest. No one knew they were there. It would be easy to convince Petra to stay. She didn't have family back home, only a few close friends and acquaintances. There was no doubt in his mind she would pick staying and having a family here with him in a heartbeat.
For a few seconds, he imagined that: waking up to her and starting the day with morning sex, eating breakfast together, he could start taking classes at a community college—he could tell her he dropped out because he had a decent inheritance and she would support him fully, he knew— maybe they could own a business together because Petra had mentioned buying a restaurant, and they could have a few kids and a dog or two running around.
Then Isabel's and Farlan's faces appeared in his mind, shattering that dream. They needed him. He couldn't skip out on them. But he didn't want to hurt Petra either. There had to be a way for him to help his friends and keep his wife by his side.
Levi spent the entire day churning everything over in his head, trying to find a way out where everyone could walk away happy.
A few days later, Petra delivered the solution to him herself without even realizing it.
"I have something for you."
"What's this?" Petra picked up the fat stack of papers curiously.
"It's a post-nuptial agreement."
She looked between him and the documents. "Is this the matter you wanted Rico to handle?"
"Yes. I know you said I didn't ask, but I felt uncomfortable not having signed a prenup. I wanted to do this." Especially after she had transferred millions into his account.
At first, he thought he was seeing things. His eyes had nearly popped out of his head at the massive figure. Then Petra had explained she had done it so he could buy whatever he wanted because she wanted him to be happy. His wealth was a drop in the bucket compared to hers. Or so she thought. The more accurate comparison, he thought, was a drop in the pool.
"Rico has a signed copy and this one is for you. Just accept it and let's not talk about it," Levi said strongly, jaw set, tone leaving no room for objections. He would not budge on this and from the expression on her face, she knew.
"Okay," Petra accepted and he relaxed. She gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "You know, I'm kind of glad you did this."
"You are?"
"I didn't want to tell you this, but some of my friends thought you were only pursuing me because you ran out of your inheritance."
Levi felt his heart freeze and he forced himself to stay relaxed. If he tensed up, she would feel it. At least her friends thought I had some money to begin with. Even if they correctly deduced his intentions in marrying her, they had been fooled to some extent.
"And Rico was one of them," Petra went on, oblivious. "She even wanted to dig deep into your past but I told no and that it would destroy my trust in her if she did. So that's why I'm glad. You approved her wrong."
"You have a good friend," Levi said. No wonder the post-nuptial agreement had come in barely ten minutes after he sent the email. Rico, it seemed, had been ready to slap him with it at a moment's notice had Petra given the word. Still, hearing that did make him feel better. Because Rico had been suspicious she had to have made the contract airtight.
Levi was thrilled, thinking about his plan. It would be easy now. There was more than enough money in his bank account to pay off the debt his friends had accumulated for the con plus fat bonuses. Not enough to retire with large houses, nest eggs, and fancy cars and yachts of their own like they had originally planned, with him divorcing Petra and taking a third of her net worth. But it was still a ridiculous sum of money that would make his friends' lives a breeze. The key to making their con successful was not being greedy. Instead of fighting, they had figured her lawyers would jump at the deal because, without a prenup, he could have easily been able to take half her wealth.
He had assured himself that he wasn't a terrible person because she would still be very, very rich and next time be more cautious when picking a partner. He had told himself he was doing her a favor. Some asshole could have taken her for everything she had and left her penniless. Or worse.
"Ow, Levi, too tight!" Petra wiggled in his arms.
"Sorry." Levi relaxed his hold.
Farlan raised his hand when he entered the diner, spotting him. "Hey, Levi."
"Big bro!" Isabel tackled him into a hug when he stood to greet them.
"You look good. Married life suits you," Farlan teased, sliding into the corner booth of their favorite restaurant.
"How was the hotel?" Isabel asked eagerly. "I've seen pictures online but I want all the details! What was it like, the presidential suite?"
"You'll be able to book one for yourself soon enough," Farlan said. "So, Levi, you said you wanted to talk to us about something?"
"Yeah." He picked up a glass of water and took a sip. A waitress came over to take their orders and he was glad for the delay. "Nothing for me," he told her and she repeated their orders before leaving.
"You're not staying?" Isabel pouted. "But I have so much I wanna ask you about!"
"There's somewhere I have to be."
"Do you have to play golf at some lame-ass country club with entitled socialites?" Farlan gave him a sympathetic look.
"No, Petra's taking me to an art gallery to support one of her friends."
Isabel rolled her eyes. "That's even worse."
"You have to hand it to a lot of those artists, though. Selling that trash they call 'art' for so much money," Farlan said admiringly.
Levi didn't tell them that he had seen Gunther's work and the man was indeed talented. Even to someone like him, who did not much care for the arts, the paintings were gorgeous and the hard work and depth and meaning were obvious to see. Not to mention the other purpose of the trip was to find a beautiful piece they both enjoyed to hang in the bedroom of their potential permeant home across the county.
"What'd you wanna talk about, big bro?"
Levi slid two checks across the table, watching the eyes nearly pop out of their skulls at the numbers. "Petra transferred a shit ton of money into my account the other week. You can pay off everything we needed for the con and live very comfortably with this amount."
They picked up the checks gingerly, looking positively giddy.
"This is just the beginning. Once you divorce her, we can retire and live out the rest of our lives in luxury," Farlan said, Isabel nodding happily beside him.
Levi inhaled and stated quietly but firmly, "That's not gonna happen." Confusion replaced the joy on their faces. "I signed a post-nuptial agreement. Petra won't ask where I spend the money she transferred to me. Hell, I can even be honest and tell her that I shared it with my friends and she'll be happy about it, but I can't ask for more. So this is all you'll get of her money."
"Damn," Farlan muttered, staring at the check. "But we knew it was a possibility she might change her mind after the wedding and ask you to sign a post-nuptial agreement."
I could let them believe it. Levi thought. It would be simple. He would just make Petra promise never to bring up the post-nuptial agreement being his idea with his friends because it made him uncomfortable and being the understanding woman she was, she would agree. Things would be okay on that end and his friends wouldn't get angry with him for screwing them over.
"Oh well, bet there's still a lot of crazy expensive stuff in her house that she won't notice if it goes missing." Isabel's eyes lit up. "Or you could 'donate' it. Then she wouldn't even care! That's smart, right?" She looked between Levi and Farlan.
"Is there something you're not telling us?" Farlan questioned him. "Why didn't you refuse her?"
Levi's mind scrambled. He could still salvage it. Claim it was before the honeymoon. He and his friends had done quite a bit of research on the laws and he could easily tell them Petra had asked before the honeymoon, meaning their marriage wasn't yet consummated. Thus she could have had it annulled and he would have ended up penniless and possibly charged with fraud, so there was really no choice for him but to sign. But then he thought about all the lies that he would probably have to come up with to keep covering his original lie and how it would spiral. It would be exhausting. And he didn't want to lie to his friends. Bad enough he had to keep his wife in the dark about his past, he couldn't dupe his friends, too.
"Levi?" Isabel said hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm the one who asked her lawyer for the papers and signed them," he confessed, forcing himself to look at them as he did.
"What? Why would you do that?!"
"Big bro, why?"
Realizing they were being loud, the two quickly looked around, noting the fairly empty restaurant and lack of eavesdroppers nearby.
Levi spoke up before they broke out of their shock. "I've done a lot of illegal shit before and I didn't necessarily like it sometimes. But I'd never felt so disgusted with myself," he said, letting some of the guilt that had been eating away at him slip out.
His friends stared at him. "But, Levi, it's not even that bad. It's no like you were gonna murder her," Farlan said.
Isabel offered him the same excuses he had made to himself. "She still would have been filthy rich. And she really should have done a background check. It's really her fault. She's too nice and trusting."
Levi wanted to say those traits weren't a bad thing. That they should be the ones who shouldn't be conning people, even if their marks could afford it to lose some money. But that was too self-righteous considering he was usually the brains behind their schemes and often made tangents against the rich.
"Why didn't you talk to us first?" Isabel asked. "You—"
"Are you going to tell Petra?" Farlan interrupted her.
"No," Levi said calmly.
"So you just plan on staying married to her?" His best friend asked, both his and Isabel's eyes widening.
"It's not her money. I love her."
They stared him, mouths falling open.
"Here you go," the waitress said cheerfully, placing their drinks before them. "Food will be coming soon."
"You love her?" Farlan inquired, studying him intently.
"Yes," he replied, feeling anxious.
"Wow," was all Isabel had to say.
"I can't take her money. And I don't want to leave her." He braced himself for a variety of reactions ranging from anger to disappointment to mockery.
A brilliant smile stretched across Farlan's face instead. He laughed. "That's great, man!"
"Really?"
Isabel laughed. "You were scared to tell us that?"
"I thought you guys would be pissed I went and asked for a post-nuptial agreement and signed it without telling you," he admitted. Now he felt silly for being worried they would be opposed to him staying with Petra. To them, money was not above his happiness. If he'd found, naturally they'd support him.
"I mean, sure it wasn't what we planned and it's too bad we won't be rolling in a mountain of dough, but I'm happy for you, big bro," Isabel said, smiling warmly.
"I'll still try and help in any way possible," Levi promised readily.
Farlan shook his head. "You've already done a lot for us. There's absolutely no reason to feel bad. Honestly, I'm a little hurt you think so little of us that you thought we'd be upset with you."
"Your happiness means more to us than that money ever would have!" Isabel added.
Levi relaxed in his seat. Really, what had he been so worried about? They were friends. Of course they would be happy for him. "Thanks, guys." When he left, he felt better than he had in a while.
"Hey, how'd lunch with Isabel and Farlan go?" Petra was on the couch, book in hand, legs tucked under her.
Levi joined her, giving her a kiss. "It was great. How was your day?"
"I've just been sitting at home all day, reading. I was thinking about going to this Thai place for dinner after Gunther's show."
"Sounds good. Hey, uh, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I gave a lot of the money you transferred to my bank account to Farlan and Isabel," Levi said nervously. There was no way he could tell her the entire truth without breaking her heart. Admittedly it was also partially out terror that she wouldn't forgive him. But more importantly, she would be crushed, her heart shattered, and she would never be the same again. And he just couldn't bear the thought of her in such pain. "I hope you're not upset."
"Upset? I'm glad you did that. I gave that money to you for you to use however you wanted. For you to be happy. And you shared it with your friends. They're your family, Levi." Petra cupped his face, smiling beautifully. "How could I be upset about such a kind and noble gesture?"
Levi hugged her tightly. Silently he made a vow to himself. He would dedicate his life to making sure she spent the rest of hers smiling and feeling loved and cherished, never using her money for any other purpose than for her sake, their children, or to help others in need. Not only because of his feelings for her but as repentance for something he could never reveal and beg forgiveness for.
Despite his resolution, Levi felt the lie wear him down within days. All he could think about when he saw her smiling face was that it was a lie. He was lying to her. Their entire relationship was based on him conning her. It made him sick.
Indecision tore at him. Should he tell her and deal with the fallout? The thought of her crying made it hard for him to breathe. But hiding his crime and keeping her in the dark for the rest of their lives was also a miserable thought. He'd have to keep her at an arm's distance about a chuck of his life. But he couldn't risk Isabel and Farlan getting caught up in the mess either.
After days of tormenting himself, he finally came to a decision. The truth will come out eventually, Levi thought, making up his mind. Better he come clean now and let the chips fall where they may than be exposed one year, ten years, or even thirty years down the road. If Petra became angry, though, he swore to himself to keep his friends safe and make sure he took the brunt of his wife's fury. As he had signed the post-nuptial agreement and she had transferred the money into his account of her own violation, he was sure if the police were dragged into it he had a good chance of walking away free, and his friends definitely did.
"Are you sick?" Petra placed a hand on his forehead. "You've been acting weird the last few days."
"I have to tell you something," Levi began cautiously, feeling uneasy. This time he had warned Isabel and Farlan about what he was about to do, giving them the option of leaving immediately with the money if they wanted. They'd refused stubbornly and said they wouldn't abandon him.
"Tell me what?"
He held her hands between his. "First, promise you'll listen to everything I have to say."
"Okay," she said, puzzled.
"You might hate me when I tell you this. But believe me when I say that I love you. I love you with my whole heart. And no matter what you choose after you learn the truth, I will be okay with it and my feelings for you will—"
"Is this about you lying about your inheritance?"
Levi stared at her, dumbfounded. "What? You...you knew I was lying?"
Her eyes focused on his hands holding hers. "I'm not stupid. I had this feeling... Something about you felt off to me. So I relented and let Rico dig into your background."
"Then why did you marry me?"
She shrugged. "I loved you so much. I thought you felt the same, too. Though I agreed with Rico that it could just be I was letting my feelings blind me. See what I wanted to. That I was in denial and making it into some romantic story of a cold-hearted conman falling for the kind-hearted rich woman he was tricking. But I had that gut feeling again your feelings were sincere. So I decided to take a gamble and married you."
"But you had no proof I wouldn't betray you."
"That's why they call it a leap of faith, Levi."
He felt tears come to his eyes, blinking them away, embarrassed. "I can't believe you decided to take a risk like that for me."
"Maybe I would have been wrong and gone from stupidly rich down to just regular rich with you taking half my money and assets. On the other hand, had I been right about your love for me being genuine but I'd let you go, that loss wasn't really something I could quantify."
"You...are insane," he declared, stunned. "I still can't believe you made such a massive gamble."
"But it paid off, didn't it?"
"Were you going to confront me about it if I never told you the truth?" He was immensely glad now he had chosen to come clean to her.
There was a soft look on her face. "You haven't seen yourself in the last month, Levi. If you really were a heartless bastard you would have been overjoyed as our wedding day approached. Instead, it was the opposite. You became more and more miserable. I could tell, no matter how much you tried to hide it, you weren't happy. You were restless. Didn't enjoy things like you used to, only pretended you were having a good time. Something was eating away at you. So I knew you would come clean to me soon. I figured you would have told me before we got married but you held back for your friends' sake."
"Yeah, I would have." Levi nodded. Then something came to him. "Wait, the money you transferred into my account, was that your way of checking if you were right?"
"Yes. And look at that, days after your friends were taken care of, here you are, ready to take responsibility for your actions and suffer the consequences."
"So all this time, you've known and I... I've just been tormenting myself."
"Consider it your punishment. You lied to me and tried to con me. And I let you suffer when I could have cleared everything up." She shrugged, appearing okay with it. "I can fully let it rest now and move on."
Again his eyes became wet. "I swear I'll never lie to you ever again," he said emotionally.
"I know," she replied, smiling, "I believe you."
His shoulders fell. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. "Are you sure you don't want to get rid of me now?" Levi asked quietly. "I don't want you to regret this. I will devote myself to you for the rest of our lives but are you sure you don't want me to leave and never return?" His heart squeezed painfully when she seemed to consider it.
"Nope! I'm good!" She threw her arms around him.
He smiled. Then the situation finally hit him. Everything was okay. Everyone was happy. It almost didn't seem real to him. His life was not one where things turned out well. There were no happy endings. Some part of his waited for the other shoe to drop. For a second there he was almost afraid it wasn't real. But as Petra hugged him, he assured himself that it was.
"I hope you realize you will never get rid of me now," he said, pulling her as he fell back on the couch, making her laugh.
"Of course. Till death do us part, remember?"
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