Chapter 399
She remembered losing a sketchbook that meant the world to her. The one filled with all the character designs for Cloudland Winery she and May had brainstormed together.
She’d planned to give it to May as a gift, but before she even had a chance to wrap it up, she was shipped off to St. Gabriel Reform Academy. By the time she got back, the sketchbook had vanished without a trace.
She’d been too scared to bring it up again, worried that if she did, May might end up on St. Gabriel Reform Academy’s radar too, so she decided to never mention it again.
But she never imagined that, by some twist of fate, the sketchbook would fall into Lydia’s hands and ironically become the artwork for Cloudland Winery.
That sketchbook represented her friendship with May, and she refused to let Lydia taint it. Emily had originally planned to expose Lydia’s true colors later, but because of this, she decided to act sooner than planned.
Riding the wave of Lydia’s sudden fame as the manga artist for Cloudland Winery, Emily bought her way onto the trending topics, making sure everyone knew that the genius artist Tato, once praised by Amy, was actually Lydia.
Lydia hadn’t even gotten access to Tato’s account yet, so when the news broke, her first reaction was to shoot a panicked look at Emily. But Emily just gave her a deep look without saying a word.
That reaction only made Lydia even more uneasy, leaving her nerves stretched tighter than ever. But after a few days of worrying and seeing no move from Emily, Lydia finally let her guard down. She even thought up a clever little plan.
After all, Tato had never shown her face online, and the invitation Amy had sent to Emily had already been swiped by Lydia herself.
All she had to do was insist her account had been hacked, and with her system backing her up, she had nothing to fear even if Emily tried to call her out.
With that in mind, Lydia instantly relaxed and happily started prepping for Cloudland Winery manga promo event.
Maureen, the author, was taking this promo event extremely seriously. Normally, she never showed her face in public, but this time, she actually suggested doing a live stream with Emily to promote the event together.
Lydia could already imagine herself basking in the spotlight and rising to new heights after the promo event.
With that confidence, Lydia calmly accepted all the compliments and flattery as soon as she appeared at the promo event, acting like she truly belonged in the spotlight.
When she saw Maureen, she immediately acted overly familiar, taking her arm as if they were close friends, while secretly using the system to adjust her aura so that people would naturally feel drawn to her.
“I can’t believe you’re actually Maureen. Why didn’t you tell me back at Amy’s birthday party?” Lydia said. She wore a mock- complaining expression, as if the two of them were best friends.
Maureen had a smile on her face, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that her smile wasn’t warm and even held a hint of mockery. Lydia, seemingly oblivious to this, chatted extensively in front of the camera following Maureen’s lead.
Maureen even asked, “How long did it take you to design all the characters for Cloudland Winery?”
Lydia remained confident and composed, showing no signs of guilt. “It didn’t take long. I was already a fan of Cloudland Winery, so when I saw the hiring information, I thought I’d give it a shot. I didn’t expect to actually be selected.”
Maureen smirked, the corners of her lips curling up. “So, you only started drawing these character designs after Cloudland Winery started looking for a manga artist? You mean you never even had any ideas about them before that?”
