ey everyone, I (M 46) have been dealing with some pretty big issues at work, and I want to make sure I'm in the right here before I make some big decisions.

So I've worked for my boss (well, series of bosses, but let's collectively call them Big E) for a long time on and off. E runs a bunch of big groups in the area--it's a family thing. He does this thing where he hires people for whatever big project he needs at the time, then lets them go afterwards. Pretty standard in my line of work. I've been doing this for most of my career so far, and--combined with a big inheritance--I was pretty well set financially.

However, about...10 years ago or so? A big project came up, something that had to be dealt with now. This guy from over by the river, Fred, basically tried a hostile takeover of one of E's most important subsidiaries. Big E was pretty strapped for cash at a time. Had to have his buddy Max come in with his own crew to help deal with Fred and try to make some headway in making sure the take over didn't succeed. Max did pretty good at keeping things under control, but it was pretty clear Max was trying to make it so he was indispensible to Big E. Made E hand over some of his other subsidiaries for a little bit to 'ensure repayment' or something. I knew that would make Big E pretty uncomfortable, so I reached out to Big E, and basically offered my services to him. I'd put together a crew myself, and help Max tackle this project. We'd work together, but I knew Big E would feel much better having me there alongside Max's group, given I worked for E directly.

All went well and good for a while. Like I said, I'm very good at my job, and pretty soon I was doing very nice business. Big E was still strapped for cash, so I was loaning him quite a bit in exchange for favors. (E is very well connected and was able to repay me with a bunch of stuff, including a lot of land). We'd pretty much dealt with the original project, but you know how mission creep is. Some other guy, Chris, started throwing it in with Fred, and we had to go try and keep him in line too. Max's crew and I did really well together, and pretty soon Fred had run off to vacation with his in-laws, and Chris wasn't much of a problem anymore. I'd been very good at keeping costs down, using novel methods to make it so that others were footing most of the bills.

Now, by this point E owes me a lot of money, both for the services I'm providing and the money I'm loaning him. Since I know E's still strapped for cash, I ask for the deed to a few more pieces of land. However, when I ask him, E shoots back accusing me of trying to take over his business! I mean, what the hell? Apparently Max and some of E's other advisors have been talking about how I'm clearly plotting something, like trying to compete with E directly. Total bullshit if you ask me. But next thing I know, I'm getting a letter informing me that I've been fired and to hand over control of my group to Max's chief guy in the field.

Despite being really pissed off about this, I played the good guy and went back home to try and enjoy the rest of my life in peace. But now I hear that Max's guy (Johan) has really mucked this up cause this new guy just showed up, and some people are talking about how E might want to bring me back. So, before I make any big decisions, I want to know what you think about the past. Was asking for land instead of cash really too far? I'm just trying to arrange just compensation for all the work I've put in making sure E's whole operation didn't come crashing down.

So, to summarise: AITA for asking for land instead of cash from my boss? And what should I tell him if he tries to get me to deal with this Gustavus guy?