Hey everyone, I had an account previously as the Mandorlandarian and I can't get the password back, so I made a new account because Sean reached out to me with an update....
Hello Tattlers,
When I last left off in August, I was preparing to open my real estate company and was pretty driven by adrenaline and anger towards Pete. Not because of any romantic feelings towards him but because I know he feels justified in his cruelty towards me. I've had many opportunities to harm Pete and I never took any of them, despite his abuse. It wasn't because of gifts or money or anything else, I just knew he would never betray me. He would scream, yell, abuse, fire staff, block my emails, cut off my cell phone, harass me, cuss me and everything else, but when he calmed down, he would stop. Essentially, the devil you know. Pete constantly told me that everything I had Was because of him, my career, my house, 'fame' (which I don't think anyone around here is remotely famous) and I laughed those things off because I know I learned real estate by myself, I know the show wasn't as good as I wanted but I had to play with the hand I was dealt and Pete isn't someone you can reason with to change their mind, you can only be patient and wait for an opening to make a move. I know I would have a career doing something and I already had my house before I met him. That said, there was always a part of me that believed it. Many times over, Pete talked about retiring and passing the whole operation over to me (this was before real estate) and as far as I was told, his will was changed to leave me his company. I told him many times that this was a terrible plan, the audience wouldn't me to run it and the staff would never see me as the boss. I hadn't earned that and forever more, I would never really accomplish anything myself, I would always be viewed as some sugar baby who weaseled his way into a fortune.
When I started with The DIS and Pete, I really wanted to try and make it work. I was given no real job or tasks and it became clear that my 'pay' was as a boyfriend and not as an employee. Earlier in this thread someone posted about Gio walking behind Pete and I remember those days all too well. It's what inspired me to come make this last post. When I started, I had a lot of debts and Pete promised me the moon. He did 'nice' things, like I was buying my mom a car, my dad had cancer and he needed to get to radiation treatments and she needed to work and they only had one. I was buying them a cheap car to get around but Pete offered a luxury car and said he would pay the bill. He wanted me to have a new car, my car was a Nissan Altima and it was perfectly fine, but he said I should be driving something better, so he talked me into upgrading on his expense. I did a lot of work getting DVC things started (I also am the reason Pete got with DVCResale Market) and I was given an Aulani contract as a 'thank you and a birthday present' - all of this among other things, that Pete offered to pay for. When I disobeyed, he stopped paying and fired me, which would leave me with all the debts. Of course, these things were put in my name with the promise that he would pay them. Ultimately, he bailed on his word, I couldn't afford the debt myself, and I couldn't allow my parents to be without a car again and I couldn't tank my own credit by defaulting on the debts. I accepted the gifts because of the relationship but I quickly realized what a mistake it was to accept them because he had me right where he wanted me. He knew I couldn't leave or speak out against him. He also, paid me through 'friends and family' on PayPal so that it would lessen my claim of 'being an employee' so that I couldn't sue for retaliation each time I was fired. (I met with several attorneys and nobody would take my case back then) - While it was frustrating, it ended up being a blessing in disguise because he also didn't want me to sign a non-compete or an NDA because it would've legitimized my claims against my employer.
I got my real estate license to help with DVC and the hope that I could eventually pay off the debts I owed and get out from under him over time. I dug my own grave and I was ok to get myself out and still try to do my best to not screw anyone over. Real Estate obviously took off and Pete and I owned that company 50/50 and he still didn't see me as his equal. John Magi is as close to an equal as Pete is going to accept. He thought that I would still be that person that followed 5 steps behind him and when I didn't, things just got even worse. With COVID hitting, Pete holed up in his house and we drifted apart because I was out doing showings and traveling and he was too afraid to do that, so he ended the relationship and promised to fulfill his debts of paying the bills he had put on me (which he didn't but I have my own money now and I just made the final payment yesterday on all of it) and after I got back with my ex and Pete found out about our wedding and wanted to sell his half of MtO to me. He wanted 1 million dollars for his half, which was a ridiculous sum of money but he was willing to hold the loan himself and just get paid back out of each sale at 0 interest. Even though the valuation was high, I agreed to this because he would eventually make 1 million over time anyway so this really changed nothing, it was like doing a rent to own essentially. As we got closer to closing the deal, he would move the goalposts. Suddenly, he wanted 1.5 million, then he wanted my homes as collateral, then he wanted set payments per month and it just grew and grew until I finally backed out and he told me 'I knew you would back out because you can't do it on your own' but I simply couldn't cut off my nose to spite my face. He felt justified in me putting up everything I owned as collateral because he truly believes everything I own, came from him. I Told him that I appreciated him opening the door for me, but I went through that door and made something with it. He responded back, that he didn't open a door for me, he built a barrel, filled it with water and fish and handed me a gun and that I could never do it without him.
I backed out of the sale and Pete offered to sell it to Drake. Drake backed out down the line as well and then he offered it to Ruben. I knew Pete wasn't actually going to sell and was just wasting peoples time and would change the deal and he told me that he created Moving To Orlando for me out of his love for me and as long as I kept it, then there was always a chance that we could be together because I kept it out of love (despite my literal engagement/marriage). So I immediately decided to sell MtO but I couldn't find a buyer, everyone wanted me to stay on board since I did most of the work and they wanted me to sign a non-compete so I would have been left without a career. Pete wrote up his offer to sell to Ruben and it included a clause that said, if Ruben sold his half of the company to me, that Ruben would owe Pete up to a 7-figure penalty for doing so, he also offered his a much lower price than me and a much better deal overall, and of course, with a non-compete. I realized it was all to specifically spite me more than anything else. Why would he care if bought Ruben out later? I had to get out, so I sold my half to my partner Razek and left, without a non-compete. So, Pete is now left with a choice. He can support MtO channel and help Ruben earn money so that he gets paid, knowing half the money ends up with my husband or he can cut MtO off with the hopes of hurting them and he won't get his money. If he doesn't get his money, the non-compete doesn't end. Personally, I hope he cuts them off. They don't realize the detriment that he is. It would be a blessing in disguise, even if they don't realize it right now.
So, at the end of August when I left off from here; I stopped and took a breath and went to therapy. Starting a company on rage, isn't the way to do things. That's what Pete does. I talked out 5 years of trauma with a therapist and I know my role in things, but I also know I did my best with the circumstances. I have officially started my real estate channel and have shows ready to go live, but I wanted to wait until after my wedding (I did have my ceremony last week in EPCOT - supposed to be Japan but the storm moved us indoors to China) and I wanted to wait until I closed this terrible part of my life. I don't know that this will be a success and while I know my success doesn't come from Pete, I do know that I will do my best and I won't be afraid that failure means it was all him. The best help I got from my therapist was to write things down. She taught me to take stress and write it out for clarity and leave it on the page and it shockingly works. So, that's why I did this. I wanted to write out what I believe happened and to close this chapter of my life. Which means I probably won't be back on here much, but based on the last 2 months of posts, Im not missing a lot, the DIS is on life support. Pete always says 'the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference' and that is very true.
I really enjoyed most of the The DIS staff and they are all having to make the best of a badly dealt hand. Pete didn't used to be this bad either, he got a lot worse the longer time went on, so it was gradual. Some have checked out mentally and some have moved on physically, but the main couple that are giving it their all, do very well for the sheer number of Pete shaped roadblocks that exist in that company.
For the people reading this, thank you! Your words and criticisms drove me to make some of the best decisions I could've made with my life. This site helped get me out of a toxic work environment, an abusive personal relationship and helped me get the help I needed to get my life back on track after this half-decade detour. And I hope someday that my show is relevant enough for my own set of haters. Thanks again
