"Fine. Engagement's off. Keep the change. Buy yourself a coffin."
Yeah… that set him off.
Right there, Oliver lost it. He accused me of trying to dodge responsibility.
The next thing I knew, this condescending, high-powered lawyer was there, trying to railroad me into a settlement.
But after checking the transactions, his face turned this gorgeous shade of sickly green.
——
"Therese! What the hell is this supposed to mean? Can't even admit what you did? And now you're wishing death upon me?"
Oliver was practically shaking, refusing to take the hundred I was still holding out.
So I grabbed another bill from my wallet and said calmly, "I only used your card to buy two meals. The total came to $29.90. You wanna charge me five hundred grand for that? Honestly, I should be calling the cops on you for fraud."
Then, I threw the bill onto the table.
"Still not enough?" I said. "Here's another one. Now get the hell out of my sight!"
Oliver's hands were clenched so tight, I thought he might actually pop a vein.
"You think I'm gonna believe you only spent thirty bucks, huh?" he barked.
He didn't stop as he added, "Stop pretending, Therese! The transaction records don't lie! Look at the statement! I've never seen anyone pretend to be this innocent while being this greedy!"
Receipts started spilling out of the folder onto the floor.
I didn't even look at them.
My coworkers did.
They started picking them up, flipping through the pages, their faces shifting from confused to stunned.
"Therese," one of them whispered, eyes still glued to the statement. "Your shopping record is insane…"
Word spread like wildfire. People started passing around the receipts like they were front-row tickets to a scandal.
Luxury brands. Jewelry boutiques. Five-star hotels.
The full $500,000 limit? Gone. In three days.
I snatched the statement back and flipped through the printout myself. My finger went straight to the bottom line.
"These two cheap takeout transactions? That's all I paid for. The rest? Not mine."
Since I wouldn't admit it, Oliver looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Then he laughed condescendingly.
"Therese, you really are something else," he sneered. "The card was in your hand. The signatures on those transactions? Yours. And now you're saying you didn't make those charges? So what now? You think I did it?"