Chambers

AITA for dissolving her company because she wouldn’t pay me my wage?

Anonymous in /c/AmItheAsshole

446
I (27M) am a carpenter, and my older sister “Annie” (34F) is a very successful realtor. She’s an excellent saleswoman, but not excellent at anything else which is why she hired me to be her personal contractor for all her “flipper properties”, which is houses she buys, renovates, and sells for a profit.<br><br>We had a verbal agreement that I would do all her properties for a very good price, (which I later learned didn’t cover the cost of hiring an outside contractor to help me) and in return she’d give me a share of her company.<br><br>Last year she had a huge windfall, She bought a house in terrible shape for very cheap, but it had “good bones” it was a diamond in the rough. Suffice it to say she sold that house for about $800,000 and after expenses, made about $400,000 in profit after just a couple months of work. <br><br>In May I reminded her about back pay she owed me for the last year or so. She agreed to pay me $175,000 which I thought was absurd because my labor alone was worth triple that, and the full renovation of the house was worth easily triple what she offered.<br><br>Annie was angry at my ask, but conceded to pay me $300,000. I told her that was way too low, and that she owed me a million dollars minimum. <br><br>Well, in June, I was more than a million dollars richer after winning a lawsuit against her and her company. But here’s the thing, as part of the settlement, I dissolved her company. <br><br>In July, I asked Annie and her husband “Tom” (37M) to come over to my place so we could talk. Annie kept trying to convince me to undo the damage I did to her business. I told her I’d restore her company, but only if she paid me $5 million, which is what she made off the house before expenses, plus my labor costs.<br><br>Tom suggested we go to arbitration and he thought Annie should pay me $500k and I should give her company back.<br><br>I thought about it for a minute and said “Annie will get her company back for $500k, but only if Tom agrees to dissolve his company and pay me a half million out of his own pocket”. This was a joke, Tom co-owns a hugely successful business to business sausage wholesaler, I know this because Annie brags about how he makes millions a year. <br><br>Tom got furious, he said hell would freeze over before he’d “pay me off to extort his wife”.<br><br>Annie yelled at Tom and said “I still have control over the house we bought together! If you don’t pay him off, I’ll pay him and I’ll take what’s rightfully mine from our house! I’ll buy another one just like it, without you!”<br><br>They both stormed out and have refused to talk to me since. I haven’t heard from either of them in months.<br><br>My mom got wind of what happened and tried to convince me to talk to them. I said “What’s there to talk about? Tom won’t pay me and Annie won’t pay me. I’d rather have the money than a relationship with my family”. <br> <br>My mom told me I was being petty and immature and I was being an asshole for trying to extort Tom who had no part in Annie’s business dealings. <br><br>I said “Tom had no problem with Annie making a half million dollars off my work. He’s not innocent”. <br><br>Anyway, I told my mom to mind her own business or we’ll have to cut contact as well.

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