As you can see, I wanted to go directly to AB and had started compiling information because of just this. He, however, didn’t want to be on AB (for obvious reasons) so figured the best course of action was to ‘help me forget.’

That is not what AB is for. It is not an axe to hang over someone's head. An artist has the right to cancel a job and refund the money when they feel like it. An artist has the right to post their work or not to post their work no questions asked. Unless the right is signed over to you, they still own their work and choose what happens to it after the fact.