Chapter 21 - Vivian wants eighty-six thousand dollars
Vivian produced checks.
Real.
Total:
$86,400.
Three years earlier.
Payments to:
Landscape architect.
Custom drapery company.
Wine-cellar contractor.
Lighting designer.
I remembered.
She called them wedding/housewarming gifts.
No gift letters.
No loan documents.
Now she claimed:
Advances intended for Daniel’s home.
Because Daniel never owned home, Northlight allegedly received unjust benefit.
Could she recover?
Maybe some.
Mara said:
“Do not dismiss.”
We reviewed texts.
Vivian:
Let me do the garden as my gift.
Me:
That’s too much.
Vivian:
Nonsense. Enjoy it.
Gift.
Another:
The drapes are on me. Consider it my contribution to your beautiful home.
Gift.
Wine cellar:
Different.
Vivian wrote:
Daniel wants this. I’ll front the deposit and he can settle with me later.
There.
Potential Daniel debt.
Not Northlight.
Then Daniel’s deposition from divorce:
He believed wine-cellar money was a gift too.
No repayment history.
Then Vivian claimed she would never have gifted improvements to property owned solely by Claire’s company.
But she knew Northlight owned it.
Closing occurred months before improvements.
Her own email:
I still think putting the house in Claire’s company is ridiculous, but at least it keeps the decorators organized.
She knew.
Then why sue?
Control.
And maybe $86,000.
Commercially, litigation could cost more.
Mara offered:
$7,500 settlement for disputed wine-cellar payment only.
Vivian demanded $60,000.
No.
Then Daniel did something unexpected.
He offered to indemnify Northlight for any valid amount court found originated as his personal debt to Vivian.
Why?
“The wine cellar was my request.”
Mara said:
“Useful.”
Vivian became angrier.
She wanted Claire to pay.
Not Daniel.
That revealed motive.
Then court denied her request for preliminary lien on Briarcrest.
Why?
Insufficient showing of ownership interest.
Money claim could proceed.
No clouding title without basis.
Then mediation scheduled.
Active.
Meanwhile Alder Row refinancing.
Appraisal:
$19.4 million stabilized projected.
Debt manageable.
Occupancy 67%.
Close.
MidState offered permanent loan contingent on 70% by closing or additional reserve.
They could fund reserve.
Project likely survive.
No need my money.
That fact mattered more than I expected.
The crisis Daniel used to justify violence had been solvable.
More expensively.
May you like
Less comfortably.
But solvable.
