Chapter 7 - Citrine House
Citrine House occupied an expensive showroom near the Arts District.
I had been there twice.
Hand-painted wallpaper.
Italian lighting.
Furniture no one should sit on.
Celeste owned 55%.
Melissa Dane:
45%.
Operating agreement required both members for:
Debt above $250,000.
New equity.
Sale of company.
Related-party transactions.
But day-to-day control sat with Celeste.
The line of credit was already authorized years earlier.
Problem:
Bank required minimum fixed-charge coverage.
Citrine House was near covenant breach.
Celeste needed roughly:
$90,000 liquidity before quarter-end to improve working capital and pay vendors.
She had put in $42,000 personally.
Sold estate coins for $17,860.
Planned pawn advance:
$30,000 on ring.
Total:
Around $90,000.
There.
Not random greed.
A liquidity bridge.
Still unauthorized.
Then Melissa found another issue.
Celeste had booked the $17,860 as:
Member contribution — C. Calloway
Not:
Proceeds from estate coin sale.
Could that be accounting fraud?
Potentially inaccurate classification.
She told bookkeeper it was personal capital.
At moment of deposit, Celeste apparently considered proceeds hers.
Intent complicated.
Then vendor payments.
All business.
No vacations.
No casino chips.
No hidden lover.
The truth was less sensational:
My mother believed her future inheritance was already available for her use.
That belief became behavior.
Then Silver Mesa petitioned for:
Return of recovered items.
Surcharge for investigation costs.
Temporary suspension of Celeste’s family-adviser role? Did she have role? Let's establish she was on a nonbinding family advisory committee, not trustee.
Grandma had allowed each major branch one advisory seat.
Celeste held ours.
Could be removed by trust protector for defined misconduct after notice.
Victor initiated review.
Celeste accused him of conflict because he represented Grandma and now trust.
Silver Mesa hired independent counsel to evaluate.
Good governance.
Then my position.
Would I take Celeste’s advisory seat?
“No.”
Why?
I didn’t want control.
Victor said:
“Good. Say that publicly.”
Then tangible memorandum challenge.
Celeste formally petitioned to invalidate.
Grounds:
Capacity.
Undue influence.
Grandma’s prior 2019 memo had left ring to Celeste.
True.
In 2023 she changed it to me.
Why?
We needed know.
The attorney notes said Grandma told Denise Harper:
“Celeste already has my mother’s pearls. Erin is the person who sat with me when Frank died. She always loved this ring.”
Not sinister.
Then Grandma asked Denise:
“Will Celeste be angry?”
Denise:
“Possibly.”
Grandma:
“She’s always angry when I decide before she does.”
That line became important.
But dead-person statements have evidentiary rules.
Not everything in lawyer notes automatically trial proof.
Capacity evaluation strongest.
Then Celeste requested my medical records to prove I influenced Grandma while dependent on pain medication? Timing wrong. The memo signed long before my fracture.
Request denied/narrowed.
Then one new asset issue:
Grandma’s Henderson house was scheduled for sale.
Celeste objected.
She wanted to buy it from trust below appraisal, claiming sentimental value and repairs.
Appraisal:
$1.18 million.
Celeste offered:
$980,000.
Silver Mesa refused.
She called that discrimination.
May you like
Trustee called it fiduciary duty.
Another battle.
