I haven't spoken to my sister for 11 years after she emotionally blackmailed our brother
Back in 2011, my (51F) brother (54) inherited a relative's estate, which was worth around $500k. In 2012, he decided (against my advice) to put a big chunk of that money into a business venture with our older sister (56) and BIL. The business was $700k and my brother invested $300k and had 43% share, my sister and BIL each put in $200k and had 28.5% share each (but together, 57%). They purchased an existing business, in an industry none of them had any experience in, but my brother was a mechanic for 20 years prior, which was a skillset that was relevant to the business they purchased. My sister and her husband had both been in the finance industry (banking) for their entire careers.
So after about 3 years, it all turned to shit and my brother wanted out. As he had no experience in business and felt at a disadvantage, he asked me if I would represent him in the negotiation with my sister and BIL to buy him out of the business. I was the General Manager of a multi-million dollar company at the time, and this type of thing was right up my alley, so I didn't hesitate and agreed to help him out.
My sister and BIL made my brother an offer to purchase his share and my brother sent me the details and the business financial statements for 2012-2014 that he'd been given. I asked my brother a few questions about how he saw the business' day-to-day operations, what had changed since they took over, whether it had gotten busier etc. From what he could tell me, the business was thriving, doing several times (he said 10 times) the volume of trade than when they took over. They had hired several staff, he was run off his feet etc. So that's where the problem arose - the offer that my sister and BIL made him was pretty much giving him back the money he had originally put in, nothing more. I thought this was a little strange, because if the business had been doing so well, why wasn't it growing, and why wasn't my brother's share bigger than his initial investment?
So I put together a list of 9 questions, to fill the gaps in my understanding of the business' financial position, because the books didn't agree with what my brother had told me. That's when the shit hit the fan, because in response to my perfectly reasonable 9 questions, my sister and BIL got very defensive. They refused outright to answer any questions, and added that if they had to answer any questions they were withdrawing their offer and would see my brother in court. I suggested that if that was their stance, perhaps they could all agree to have the business valued by an independent valuer, but that was rejected also. After a decade of managing the business where I worked, I'd never come across a business negotiation where one party absolutely refused to answer any questions, especially when due diligence was undeniably necessary. A few years after this, the company I worked for was sold, and I think I had to answer about 700 questions all up.
So I informed my brother that there was something suspicious going on, and there was nothing further I could do for him if I couldn't get more info. Then, still without answering any questions, my sister and BIL made a slightly higher offer to my brother. The 'final' offer came with a veiled threat, that if he didn't accept it, he might not be able to have any contact with his nieces (my sister and BIL's two girls). My brother loves his nieces, and didn't want to jeopardise his relationship with them, so he accepted their offer. His thoughts were basically that he'd made a little bit of money on his investment, and he was no longer tied to the business, so he was happy.
I was thoroughly disgusted by what I saw as emotional blackmail, and to this day I'm still 100% convinced that my sister and BIL didn't want to answer my questions because they couldn't, not without revealing that the business was worth more than what they were claiming and they were robbing my brother of his share of that growth.
So I have not spoken to my sister or BIL in 11 years now. The funny thing is, nobody in my family believes me that my sister and BIL are greedy, evil people, and I've been labelled the AH for accusing them. They have given the rest of the family some BS explanation that I had my wires crossed, or somehow I misunderstood the situation and overreacted, they did nothing wrong. I've tried a few times to ask family members why then for 11 years has my sister never tried to reconcile and explain what exactly I got wrong? I know that if I'd been falsely accused of something so despicable, I wouldn't stop trying until I cleared my name, but that's just me.
I believe she emotionally blackmailed our brother so she could rob him of what was rightfully his, but could there be another reason why they refused to answer my questions that I haven't considered? If my brother can get past it and carry on like nothing happened, shouldn't I be able to too?