One of them muttered under their breath, but loud enough for me to hear, "Therese's been playing both sides this whole time. Acting all humble so Sir Oliver would beg her to spend his money, and now she flips it to make him look like the bad guy."
"Exactly," another added, practically sneering. "The whole thing was probably her plan from the start."
"I haven't spent that much in the last three years," someone scoffed. "And Therese blew through it in three days? She's not even married to him yet, so imagine if she were. She'd drain the whole company dry."
"Poor Mr. Jefferson," a voice sighed dramatically. "What a nightmare. I say cut the engagement already. Who even arranges betrothals anymore? That stuff's ancient history."
Right on cue, Kiara Summers, Oliver's assistant, slipped in.
She gave me this smug little look, then looped her arm around Oliver's.
Then, Kiara leaned in close and cooed, "Sir Oliver, young people these days just can't handle a simple test. But look on the bright side, you spent $500,000 to see her true colors. Imagine if you'd actually married her. She could've wrecked everything. The whole company might've gone down, and the rest of us would be out of a job."