The Unwanted Daughter: When Love Comes Too Late Chapter 284: The Stolen Identity

Just when Tracy had organized all the character sketches and was ready to hand them to ViaLittle, the Jackmans kidnapped her and dragged her into the academy.

Those two years were so painful that much of her life before the academy became a blur.

The artbook she prepared for Cloudfall Tavern disappeared, and she lost contact with ViaLittle. By now, ViaLittle had openly hired other comic artists and stopped waiting for her.

Their friendship, it seemed, had reached its end.

The thought left Tracy hollow, as if someone had carved a piece out of her heart.

Before Erin came home, Tracy had plenty of friends.

But they had only cared about her identity as an heiress. When that identity was stripped away, they abandoned her.

Only ViaLittle had been her friend for who she truly was.

They never knew each other's real names or faces, but they valued the bond between them.

Yet with the academy watching her so closely and the two years of hell she endured, she and ViaLittle were destined to part ways.

Realizing this fact didn't make it any easier to let go.

Tracy could only pour herself into work, keeping her mind too busy to dwell on the past.

It was almost as if fate wanted to keep her occupied. Two days later, Ronald came back with a handful of photos.

They were screenshots of Erin's social media posts, each one flaunting her "practice" artwork.

It wasn't unusual for Erin to show off, but the drawings themselves looked strangely familiar.

Tracy studied them closely—weren't these her own pieces, the ones she had posted online?

Ronald noticed her expression and slid one photo out of the pile. "Take a look at this one."

That post was just like the others—Erin showing off her art. But this time, the comments were different.

[These look exactly like the famous online artist T's work. Erin, don't tell me that's actually you.]

Erin replied sweetly, [I don't like showing my face online, but since you're all my friends, I didn't want to hide it from you. Please help me keep it a secret, okay?]

Tracy froze. "Erin is claiming to be T?"

She didn't know whether to laugh or be furious.

Back in college, Erin had stolen her drawings and then turned around to accuse her of plagiarism. That scandal ruined her reputation, left her treated like trash, and nearly destroyed her career in the art world.

And now Erin was pulling the same trick again.

In that moment, Tracy understood why Erin had been trying so hard to get her phone lately.

Erin must have figured out that she was really T and wanted to steal the account.

Since T never showed their face, whoever controlled the account was T.

But Erin didn't realize that Tracy's phone didn't hold the account. Ronald had it.

He managed everything—the posts, the edits, and the uploads. Tracy had handed it over long ago so he could run it smoothly.

Tracy wasn't foolish. Thinking back to the missing invitation and Erin bragging that Ms. Nicholls had personally chosen her, it wasn't hard to guess when Erin had discovered the truth.

Ronald, sensing her anger, asked softly, "CeeCee, what do you plan to do?"

Tracy paused, then answered calmly, "She's showing off because she knows I don't have her contact. She thinks I'll never see it. Fine. I'll let her believe that. Let her climb higher."

The higher Erin went, the harder she would fall.

Ronald wasn't surprised. Watching the sharp gleam in Tracy's eyes, he smiled knowingly. "I figured you'd say that."

He picked out another photo. "Take a look at this one."

In the comments, someone had asked Erin when the next update would be.

Tracy had been so busy that she hadn't updated T's account in weeks. Her inbox was already full of fans begging for new posts. What she didn't expect was that even in Erin's circle of friends, there were people claiming to be T's fans too.

Of course, Erin wasn't really T. She had no idea when the next update would drop—or what it would even be. That wasn't something she could fake.

But Tracy was going to make sure she found out.

To send Erin a message, Tracy deliberately pulled out her sketchpad at the office.

Sure enough, the moment the paper hit her desk, someone came over. "Ms. Yarwood, what are you working on?"

It was Verity Hewitt—Erin's closest ally, the same one who had helped her steal Tracy's phone last time.

Tracy acted as if she hadn't noticed the eager glint in Verity's eyes. She calmly unwrapped her pencils and said, "Haven't drawn in a while. My hands are itching to sketch again."

Everyone knew Tracy had studied art, so her explanation raised no suspicion at all.