Agree. There was no reason to think the $1M would have been paid, and every reason to expect not. The $11k figure was a tell. Doubling from $1/2M to $1M was another.

It is always easy to increase an offer that you don't plan to make good on.

Reminds me of the Pascal's wager variant: "Lend me a $1000, I will give you $1M in a month. Don't trust me? Make it $100M. However small you think the probability that I will make good, just take the reciprocal and multiply that in, and that's what I promise."