Chapter 7 - Cross Atelier’s numbers
Forensic construction accountant Daniel Cho reviewed the $1.34 million project.
He separated:
Actual labor/materials.
Design services.
Management fees.
Change orders.
Duplicate billing.
Personal furnishings.
Lake Briar planning.
His initial findings:
Approximately $807,000 represented actual documented work or materials associated with Greyhaven.
Of that:
$420,000 already paid by Meridian.
$260,000 paid by me.
Leaving:
$127,000 likely legitimate unpaid work.
Then:
$163,000 consisted of disputed Cross Atelier design/management fees.
Could be owed under my personal contract.
Not necessarily lienable against Greyhaven.
Then:
$104,000 in duplicate, unsupported, or internally inconsistent charges.
Then:
$91,000 associated with luxury furnishings delivered elsewhere or never installed.
Then:
$68,000 connected to Lake Briar studies, security planning, and design work unrelated to Greyhaven.
The remaining categories required more review.
So a $912,400 lien appeared massively overstated.
But a portion could still be valid.
Then subcontractors.
Some had not been fully paid by Cross.
Electrical contractor owed:
$46,000.
Stone contractor:
$29,000.
HVAC:
$38,000.
Those were real companies.
Real workers.
If Cross collected money from me and failed to pay them, they could have their own lien rights.
We would not punish innocent tradespeople because Wilhelmina manipulated invoices.
Meridian created a reserve.
No immediate full payment until claims verified.
Then Cross Atelier’s internal ledger.
One account:
Greyhaven leverage
Again with bad folder names.
It contained projected outcomes:
Option A: Falcone pays Cross claim.
Option B: property refinance.
Option C: trust sale.
Option D: family relocation to Briar, Cross settlement through lease/management offsets.
Trust sale?
Why did Wilhelmina believe she could force one?
Mechanic’s lien foreclosure could theoretically force sale if a valid lien remained unpaid.
But only to satisfy valid lien, not give Wilhelmina ownership.
Trust would likely pay legitimate claim long before a $10 million property sold over $127,000.
Unless she could inflate the claim enough.
Or convince me Greyhaven was a losing fight.
Then Appendix H damages.
If I believed I personally owed another $1.5 million, moving to her property and signing a settlement might seem easier.
It was a pressure structure.
May you like
Not a direct taking.
That distinction mattered.
