Read Online Fool and Her Honey (9781622860791) by Kimberly T. Matthews - Free Book Online Page B

being completely paid for, but it wasn’t like I drove a Lamborghini. There wasn’t much blue book value to a twelve-year-old Honda Accord. Outside of that, I had a small term life insurance policy, which apparently counted as an asset, because it was included in Bertrand’s template.
    Even with me plugging in the value of my life insurance, my net worth still looked awful, reflecting a negative value. This reality was a huge slap in my face, but I couldn’t let Bertrand think I was seriously this broke, so I made up some numbers, inflating the amount of money I had in savings and beefing up my insurance policy values. By the time I was done fudging the numbers, I looked pretty good. All I had to do was explain to Bertrand what was going on with me getting calls from debt collectors. I’d just tell him that there was a certain part of my savings that I never dug into, no matter what. Didn’t make much sense to me, but he was so financially disciplined, he might go for it.
    With Bertrand’s original document now full of red marks where I made corrections to my financial standing, I dialed his number. He answered on the first ring.
    â€œHey, babe,” he said, testing the waters.
    â€œHi.” My voice was intentionally flat and stoic, as I was still feeling some type of way about this whole thing.
    â€œAre you all right?”
    â€œYeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you about this . . . this . . . document,” I said, unable to get the words prenuptial agreement out of my mouth.
    â€œI’m sorry if I offended you, Dina,” he immediately blurted.
    â€œNo, it’s all right. You just caught me off guard,” I lied. “I have had a chance to read through it thoroughly, and there are some things on it that need to be changed.”
    â€œOkay,” he said, more as a question. “Like what?”
    â€œWell, first of all, you didn’t have enough financial information on me to complete my portion, so the figures there need correcting.”
    â€œOkay,” he easily agreed.
    â€œWhy did you do it without trying to at least find that information out?”
    â€œWell, I didn’t realize that I didn’t know any different. I mean, I know you’ve been talking about the shop being slow for a while, so I knew the salary part was right, and then you shared with me that you were having a hard time making ends meet, so I just assumed that your resources were exhausted.”
    â€œFor your information, Mr. Bertrand Peyton, I do have other resources. I am just very careful about how I utilize them,” I said firmly, delivering my prepared lie.
    â€œI’m sorry. I guess I should have consulted with you first to make sure I had all my facts straight.”
    â€œYes, you should have.” I let silence settle for a few seconds as a reprimand, then started speaking again. “Secondly, I want an infidelity clause added in.”
    â€œAn infidelity clause?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat do you propose it states?” he asked.
    â€œI want it to say that if either of us gets caught cheating, as retribution, the injured spouse is owed the value of the current home where we reside, in cash dollars.”
    â€œWhat!” Bertrand sounded just as shocked as I was just a couple of hours ago.
    â€œIn other words, if you cheat on me, you owe me the value of the home we live in,” I restated.
    â€œWhat about if you cheat?” he countered, sounding irritated.
    â€œSame thing goes for me. The clause works both ways.”
    â€œSo let me get this right. You want to move into my house and then try to take it from me?” There was a disbelieving tone to his voice.
    â€œI don’t have to move into your house. We can buy a whole new house once we get married if you want to, and no, I’m not trying to take anything. I’m only trying to do what you’re trying to do—protect what is important to