Chapter 11 - LUCIE’S FIRST CHOICE
Lucie’s seventh birthday took place in Camille’s apartment.
No ballroom.
No photographers.
No Morel foundation banner.
There were eight guests.
Camille.
Adrian.
Genevieve.
The therapist.
Two classmates.
Nora from the mansion kitchen.
And the guardian ad litem, who arrived only long enough to give Lucie a book and confirm that no one had turned the party into a trust meeting.
Lucie chose a strawberry cake.
She wore the striped sweater from the foyer after Camille washed and repaired it.
Adrian had wanted to replace it.
Lucie said no.
“It is the shirt where he found me.”
The pronoun mattered.
Not where she was rescued.
Where Adrian found her.
She did not want the worst day to belong entirely to Celeste.
The silver bracelet remained in evidence.
The court allowed a jeweler to make a simple replica without a hidden compartment.
Lucie declined.
“I want the real one when the case is done.”
After cake, Adrian gave her no expensive present.
He gave her the rabbit with the paw repaired in visible blue thread.
Inside the seam was a new note.
Lucie—
Nothing inside this rabbit changes who you are.
Dad.
She read it and looked at him.
“You made ‘Dad’ too big.”
He had written it in larger letters.
“I was nervous.”
She smiled.
“Okay.”
The family court held a review concerning surnames, custody, and long-term guardianship of Lucie’s trust.
Camille requested that Lucie remain legally Lucie Renard.
Adrian agreed.
Genevieve asked permission for the child to use Morel socially if she wished.
The judge said the choice could wait.
Lucie spoke privately with the judge and her guardian.
When she returned, she announced:
“I want two names when I’m older. Not now.”
No one challenged her.
She also requested that Adrian stop sending a driver to school.
“It makes everyone stare.”
Adrian agreed.
He began walking her from the corner when his schedule allowed.
The corporate restructuring removed family control from the trust.
Northern Continental created an education committee, investment committee, and child-welfare liaison. No Morel relative held a majority.
Lucie would receive explanations each year.
At seven, her report contained pictures.
One circle represented her protected shares.
Another represented money recovered from improper transfers.
A lock icon showed that adults could not use the assets for company debt.
“Can I open the lock?” she asked.
“When you are older and according to rules.”
“Can Celeste?”
“No.”
“Can Adrian?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Adrian laughed.
The unknown Elise trust received a separate court-appointed representative.
No one could claim her assets, identity, or relationship before she was found.
Camille approved.
The search moved through Canadian adoption archives, hospitals, schools, and sealed court systems.
No public campaign used photographs of Lucie.
The family refused reward offers that would expose children.
A records analyst found one likely placement.
A baby girl named Elise Cole entered foster care in Montreal six years earlier.
Her birth date matched.
She was later adopted.
The file remained sealed.
The adoptive parents received contact from an independent authority.
They requested time.
Lucie was told only that professionals had found a possible record.
“Will she come to my birthday next year?”
“We do not know,” Camille said.
“Does she have to like me?”
“No.”
“That’s rude.”
“It is freedom.”
Lucie considered the answer.
“I can be rude too?”
“You can choose distance. You may not hurt her on purpose.”
The distinction satisfied her.
Adrian’s parenting evaluation concluded that he had made significant progress but remained prone to solving emotional discomfort through money and arrangements.
He accepted continued therapy.
Camille’s evaluation supported stable primary custody.
The court finalized their plan.
Adrian did not appeal for more time.
He understood that biological fatherhood did not erase the mother who had survived six years.
Genevieve asked whether she could establish a college fund.
The trustee said Lucie already had substantial protected assets.
Genevieve instead funded scholarships for children of domestic workers through an independent organization, without Lucie’s name.
Camille approved after reviewing governance.
Repair did not require making the harmed child the face of every lesson.
The day before Celeste’s trial, Lucie asked to see her.
The request alarmed everyone.
Dr. Price explored why.
“I want to know if she still looks big.”
The court permitted no direct visit.
The therapist showed Lucie a neutral recent courtroom photograph.
Celeste looked smaller without Morel House.
Lucie studied it.
“She still has pearl earrings.”
“Yes.”
“Does she have wine?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She handed back the photograph.
May you like
“I don’t need to see her.”
That was Lucie’s first choice regarding Celeste that no adult overruled.
