Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED THE FORTUNE
The preliminary valuation arrived six weeks later.
It was staggering.
If the historical claims were authenticated and upheld, the Thibodeaux descendants could hold interests in properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Camille stared at the report.
Then laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the number was absurd.
She had spent years counting grocery money.
Working double shifts.
Repairing her shoes instead of replacing them.
Now lawyers were discussing assets that could change the lives of generations.
Lucien watched her.
"How do you feel?"
Camille shook her head.
"I don't know."
He nodded.
"That's fair."
She looked at him.
"Do you think it's real?"
"The documents are real. The legal outcome is still uncertain."
Camille appreciated the honesty.
Then she asked:
"What happens if I win?"
Lucien considered.
"You'll have choices."
She stared at the report.
"That's what frightens me."
He looked surprised.
"I've spent my whole life knowing exactly what I had to do to survive."
She looked up.
"What if I don't know who I am without that?"
Lucien sat beside her.
"Then you find out."
She smiled faintly.
"Easy for you to say."
He shook his head.
"No. It isn't."
He looked toward the river.
"I inherited power before I knew what to do with it. I spent years confusing ownership with identity."
Camille watched him.
"And now?"
Lucien looked at her.
"Now I'm trying to become someone who deserves the life he has."
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Camille said:
"I don't want the money to turn me into Harrison Whitfield."
Lucien smiled.
"Then don't let it."
She looked at the documents.
"I want to use it to preserve the city's history."
He nodded.
May you like
"That sounds like you."
And for the first time, Camille began to imagine a future that wasn't built around surviving the past.
