My Wife Divorced Me For A Richer Man And Moved Into His Penthouse. She Never Knew My Company Owned.. — Transcript

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1. 0:00My wife divorced me for a richer man and
2. 0:02moved into his penthouse. She never knew
3. 0:05my company owned the building and her
4. 0:07new husband leased his office on the
5. 0:09ground floor from me.
6. 0:11The next month, I sent him a polite
7. 0:13notice about the rent increase and she
8. 0:15opened the letter at the breakfast
9. 0:17table. My name was Nathan Brooks. I was
10. 0:2034 when the letter went out and I'll
11. 0:22tell this with my own mistakes left in.
12. 0:25I met my wife at a church pancake
13. 0:27breakfast in Charlotte, North Carolina.
14. 0:29I was 24. She was running the coffee
15. 0:32table and I burned my tongue on the
16. 0:34first cup because I was looking at her
17. 0:36instead of the lid.
18. 0:38She laughed and handed me a second cup
19. 0:40with a paper sleeve on it. "Wait 10
20. 0:42seconds, Nathan. 10. It's not a hard
21. 0:45rule." Her older sister, Courtney, had
22. 0:48already told her my name. Her name was
23. 0:50Vanessa Hollis and later Vanessa Hollis
24. 0:53Brooks. She was 22 and finishing her
25. 0:56accounting degree. We got married 2
26. 0:58years later when I was 26 and she was 24
27. 1:02in her mother's backyard under a rented
28. 1:04tent that leaked during the toasts. Her
29. 1:06mother, Linda, stood in the rain holding
30. 1:09a cake box over her head and told
31. 1:11everyone it was good luck. I believed
32. 1:13her. I believed most things that family
33. 1:15told me. At 27, I started Ridgeline
34. 1:18Property Group with $40,000 borrowed
35. 1:21from my Uncle Dale and a duplex that
36. 1:23needed a new roof.
37. 1:24For the first 2 years, Vanessa kept the
38. 1:26books at our kitchen table. When I came
39. 1:29home with a crumpled receipt, she
40. 1:31smoothed it flat on the wood and said,
41. 1:33"Nathan, this is a gas station burrito.
42. 1:35Is it a business expense?" It was not.
43. 1:38She let me expense it anyway. Then the
44. 1:40company grew and I got worse. I missed
45. 1:42dinners. When Vanessa said she felt like
46. 1:45she was living with a phone, I told her
47. 1:47we would slow down soon. When I was 31,
48. 1:50Ridgeline bought the Larkmore Tower, 22
49. 1:53stories in Uptown Charlotte with offices
50. 1:55on the ground floor, apartments in the
51. 1:57middle, and one big penthouse on top. I
52. 2:00held it through a separate company
53. 2:01called Larkmore Holdings, and a
54. 2:03management firm called Pinecrest signed
55. 2:06every lease. My name was not on the door
56. 2:08or the lobby wall. At home, I called it
57. 2:10the Uptown project. Vanessa knew we
58. 2:12owned buildings. She did not know one of
59. 2:15them was the tower she drove past every
60. 2:17Tuesday on her way to book club. That
61. 2:19was my fault. I kept it small because I
62. 2:22was tired of talking shop at dinner. I
63. 2:24made myself small in my own house, and
64. 2:26then I was surprised when someone else
65. 2:28walked in who looked bigger. His name
66. 2:30was Grant Ellison.
67. 2:31He was 40, a financial advisor with his
68. 2:34own firm and a watch that cost more than
69. 2:36my first truck.
70. 2:37I learned later that Vanessa met Grant
71. 2:39at a Sunday dinner at her mother's
72. 2:40house.
73. 2:41Courtney invited him because her husband
74. 2:43knew him from a golf league. And Linda,
75. 2:46the woman who held a cake box over her
76. 2:47head at my wedding, set an extra place
77. 2:50at her table for him. That was 11 months
78. 2:52before Vanessa told me she was leaving.
79. 2:5411 months of Sunday dinners. I skipped
80. 2:57most of them, and somebody always said,
81. 2:59"We understand, Nathan. You work so
82. 3:02hard." They understood me right out of
83. 3:04my own marriage, and ever since Linda's
84. 3:06husband passed, 4 years earlier, I had
85. 3:08been paying $1,650
86. 3:11a month toward her mortgage. Nobody
87. 3:13asked me to. I kept paying while that
88. 3:15family served brisket to the man who
89. 3:17replaced me.
90. 3:18Vanessa told me on a Thursday in March.
91. 3:20She was 31. We sat at the same kitchen
92. 3:23table, and she kept both hands flat on
93. 3:25the wood and spoke in the voice she used
94. 3:27for reading a number out loud. "I'm not
95. 3:30happy, Nathan. I haven't been for a long
96. 3:32time. And I've met someone." I said,
97. 3:34"Who?"
98. 3:35She told me. Then she kept going because
99. 3:38she had rehearsed it.
100. 3:39"I don't want to hurt you, but I want
101. 3:41someone who has actually arrived. I
102. 3:43don't want to keep waiting for you to
103. 3:44get somewhere you never seem to stop
104. 3:46heading toward." I thought about the
105. 3:48leaking tent. The place she wanted to
106. 3:50arrive was a building I had bought at a
107. 3:51conference table in a blue suit that
108. 3:54didn't fit. It would have taken one
109. 3:55sentence. I could have said, "Vanessa, I
110. 3:58own the Larkmore Tower." I didn't. I
111. 4:01didn't want to win her back with a
112. 4:02number. If she needed a number to stay,
113. 4:05then the number wasn't what she was
114. 4:06leaving me over. So, I said, "Okay." She
115. 4:09blinked. "Okay, I'll call a lawyer
116. 4:11Monday. I'll be fair." I was fair. The
117. 4:14divorce was final that September. By
118. 4:16Christmas, she had married Grant at the
119. 4:18county courthouse with Courtney as a
120. 4:20witness.
121. 4:21I wasn't invited, which was correct.
122. 4:24Now, I want to ask you something.
123. 4:26If this had happened to you, and you
124. 4:28found out you owned the ground your ex
125. 4:30was standing on, what would you have
126. 4:31done? Would you have sent the letter or
127. 4:33walked away?
128. 4:35Tell me in the comments.
129. 4:36I changed my own answer four times that
130. 4:38year.
131. 4:39The mortgage was the first thing that
132. 4:41cracked. In November, Linda called.
133. 4:44"Nathan, honey, it's about the December
134. 4:46payment. I just wanted to make sure it's
135. 4:49still all right." I asked her one thing.
136. 4:52"Linda, when did you first meet Grant?"
137. 4:55She went quiet, and in that quiet I
138. 4:57learned everything. She said it was just
139. 4:59a dinner.
140. 5:00"You set a place for him," I said, "11
141. 5:03months before she told me."
142. 5:05"We just wanted her to be happy,
143. 5:06Nathan."
144. 5:07"So did I," I said. For 7 years, I paid
145. 5:11December, January, and February, then
146. 5:13told her that was the last one kindly so
147. 5:15she could refinance. She cried, and I
148. 5:18let her.
149. 5:19That was the family betrayal.
150. 5:21People fall out of love.
151. 5:23What I could not get past was the table.
152. 5:25People whose roof I held up passing the
153. 5:27potatoes to my replacement. I found out
154. 5:30where Vanessa lived the way most
155. 5:31landlords find out anything, through a
156. 5:33spreadsheet. The following March, Dana
157. 5:36Okafor, who ran Pinecrest, sent me the
158. 5:39quarterly tenant report. Near the top,
159. 5:42Ellison Wealth Advisors, Suite 104,
160. 5:44ground floor was paying $11,800
161. 5:47a month. Further down, the penthouse,
162. 5:4922A, was leased to a G. Allison, with a
163. 5:53second occupant added the previous fall.
164. 5:56The second occupant was Vanessa Allison.
165. 5:58I read that line twice and put the
166. 6:00report down. My ex-wife was living on
167. 6:03the top floor of a building I owned. It
168. 6:05did not feel like winning. I did nothing
169. 6:07for months. Then Grant's lease came up
170. 6:09for its scheduled adjustment. He had
171. 6:11signed it 2 years earlier, and in
172. 6:13section 11 in plain language, there was
173. 6:16a market rate adjustment at the 24-month
174. 6:18mark. Nobody hit it. Dana asked if I
175. 6:21wanted to handle it as usual or hold it.
176. 6:23I could have held it, and nobody would
177. 6:25have known.
178. 6:26I called our attorney, Meredith Klein,
179. 6:28and asked one question. If this were any
180. 6:31other tenant, what would we do?
181. 6:33"Run the market rate," she said. "You've
182. 6:35been under it. Then do it by the book,
183. 6:37not a dollar more."
184. 6:39That was the line I held. The new rent
185. 6:41was 14,900,
186. 6:43which was 3,100 more a month, with 60
187. 6:46days written notice, exactly as the
188. 6:49contract allowed. Any increase over 20%
189. 6:52needed a managing member's signature.
190. 6:54So, in April, the notice went out on
191. 6:56Pinecrest letterhead, and at the bottom,
192. 6:59in blue ink, I signed it, Nathan Brooks,
193. 7:01managing member, Larkmore Holdings.
194. 7:04Above my name was one courteous line. We
195. 7:06appreciate your tenancy. I meant it.
196. 7:09Grant had listed his home as the notice
197. 7:11address, because he liked getting
198. 7:13important mail where he ate breakfast.
199. 7:15So, it went to the penthouse, certified.
200. 7:17I was not there for what happened next.
201. 7:19Grant told me his version in my office,
202. 7:22and Vanessa told me hers over coffee
203. 7:24months later. It was a Tuesday, and
204. 7:26Grant was running late for a 9:00
205. 7:28client. He stood at the kitchen counter,
206. 7:31half in his jacket, drinking orange
207. 7:33juice out of the carton. The doorman
208. 7:35rang up about a certified letter for
209. 7:36Allison Wealth Advisors, and Vanessa
210. 7:39signed for it in her robe. "Just open
211. 7:41it," Grant said, not looking up. "Tell
212. 7:44me what it says. It's probably the ice
213. 7:46machine again." She slit the envelope
214. 7:48with a butter knife and read the first
215. 7:50paragraph out loud in her accountant
216. 7:52voice. "Notice of rent adjustment
217. 7:55effective in 60 days. Base rent for
218. 7:57suite 104 will be $14,900
219. 8:00per month." She stopped. "Grant, that's
220. 8:033,000 more." "Landlords do that. Who's
221. 8:06the landlord?" "Larkmore something."
222. 8:09"Larkmore Holdings."
223. 8:11She turned the page over, the way she
224. 8:13had a thousand times with my receipts,
225. 8:15looking for the signature before the
226. 8:17numbers.
227. 8:18Then she stopped talking. "Vanessa
228. 8:20Nathan Brooks," she said, "managing
229. 8:23member." Grant set the carton down.
230. 8:25"Brooks.
231. 8:26You're Brooks." "He called it the Uptown
232. 8:28project," Vanessa said.
233. 8:30"I thought it was a few apartments." Her
234. 8:31voice had gone thin. "Grant, did you
235. 8:34know? Did I know? Did you know?"
236. 8:36"I didn't. I would never have moved into
237. 8:38a building he owned." She sat down at
238. 8:40the table. Grant's table. In a building
239. 8:43that belonged to the man she had left
240. 8:45for not having arrived. "So this is a
241. 8:47message," Grant said, sharper now. "He's
242. 8:50sending us a message." "Read your own
243. 8:52lease, Grant. Section 11. Then tell me
244. 8:55where the message is." He read it. It
245. 8:57took him about a minute. Then he stood
246. 8:59there in his beautiful kitchen
247. 9:01with an orange juice mustache he didn't
248. 9:02know about and said quietly,
249. 9:05"It's just the lease."
250. 9:06"That's what makes it worse," Vanessa
251. 9:08said. She called me that afternoon.
252. 9:11I let it ring once, then answered. "Did
253. 9:13you do this on purpose?" "I did it on a
254. 9:16schedule written two years ago, Vanessa.
255. 9:18Your husband signed it." "You could have
256. 9:20waived it." "I could have. I could have
257. 9:23done a lot of things. I could have said
258. 9:25something at our kitchen table, too, and
259. 9:26I didn't. I'm not angry at you.
260. 9:29I just stopped giving things away." She
261. 9:31was quiet.
262. 9:32Then so softly I almost missed it, she
263. 9:35asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
264. 9:37"Because I wanted you to stay for me,
265. 9:39not for a building," I said. "And I
266. 9:41think you wanted me to be somebody I
267. 9:42wasn't. We were both wrong. I'm just the
268. 9:45one saying it." She said, "Goodbye,
269. 9:47Nathan." And I said, "Goodbye, Vanessa."
270. 9:50It was the most honest conversation we
271. 9:52had in 3 years.
272. 9:54I didn't take it further. Grant came to
273. 9:56my office the following week with his
274. 9:58attorney, and we negotiated like adults.
275. 10:01We settled at 14,500 a month with a
276. 10:043-year extension, which was fair to both
277. 10:06of us. He paid on time every month after
278. 10:08that. They stayed in the penthouse until
279. 10:11the term ended, then moved to a house in
280. 10:13Matthews. Months later, Vanessa asked me
281. 10:15to coffee. We sat in a place on South
282. 10:18Boulevard, and she looked tired in a way
283. 10:20she hadn't when I married her. "My
284. 10:22mother knew," she said, "about the
285. 10:24building. You told her at Thanksgiving
286. 10:26the year you bought it. Courtney knew,
287. 10:28too. Neither of them ever told me. They
288. 10:31said it would only make me feel like you
289. 10:33loved the building more than me." I put
290. 10:35my cup down. "They knew, and they let
291. 10:37you leave. They thought Grant was the
292. 10:39sure thing." She laughed, small and dry.
293. 10:43"Funny. I think they were the ones who
294. 10:45wanted someone who had arrived. That was
295. 10:47the real betrayal, and it did not belong
296. 10:49to Vanessa. It belonged to the people
297. 10:51who loved us both and decided between
298. 10:54the two of us who deserved the truth. We
299. 10:56did not get back together, but I think
300. 10:58she finally understood that the man at
301. 11:00the kitchen table had never been waiting
302. 11:02to arrive. He had been there the whole
303. 11:04time, working too much and saying too
304. 11:06little. Afterward, I made a rule that I
305. 11:08left the office by 6:30, and if a boiler
306. 11:11broke, someone else could answer the
307. 11:12phone. I spent nothing out of spite and
308. 11:15never raised my voice. I was a landlord
309. 11:17doing his job and a husband who learned
310. 11:20too late to speak up. So, I will ask you
311. 11:22one more time. If it had been you with
312. 11:24the letter in your hand and the pen over
313. 11:26the line, what would you have done?
314. 11:28Would you have signed it or let it go? I
315. 11:31honestly want to hear."