Chapter 148: She Is About to Recover Her Identity

Chapter 148: Chapter 148: She Is About to Recover Her Identity

Once the post went viral, several bloggers turned it into videos that quickly spread across major short-video platforms.

Soon, trending topics like "Noelle Lockwood wrongly accused" and "No good deed goes unpunished" flooded everyone’s feeds.

This frenzy reached its peak when Noelle posted a new update on her Weibo account.

She announced her imminent retirement from the entertainment industry!

Her fans immediately exploded in an uproar.

"Our Noelle is so pitiful. Didn’t she claim to be Young Mr. Sloan’s mother just to protect him?"

"At the end of the day, Noelle is a female celebrity. Do you have any idea how much an out-of-wedlock pregnancy ruins a female star’s reputation? You all curse her, saying she schemed to marry Mr. Sloan, but you completely ignore her struggles! If it weren’t for Young Mr. Sloan, would she have gone to such lengths?"

"Speaking of her older sister, it just reminds me of how she wanted to fight Noelle for everything. I heard the engagement originally belonged to Noelle, but once the sister was found and brought home, she felt the Lockwood family owed her and insisted on snatching the engagement away."

"At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood felt guilty toward Estelle, so they actually agreed! And that Estelle was so hyper-competitive. When the Sloan family disliked her, she blamed it all on Noelle and even used arson and attempted suicide to garner sympathy. Who would have thought she’d actually end up killing herself!"

"I heard she was pregnant with triplets back then. She threw two of the babies into the fire and burned them to death. Just as she was about to throw Young Mr. Sloan in too, Noelle arrived and risked her life to save him!"

"Because of that incident, Noelle is terrified of fire. When she was on a variety show before, she was too scared to turn on the stove to cook and got called pretentious. But the truth is, she has a genuine phobia! So how could the fire at the fabric market a few days ago have anything to do with her? Even if she wanted to harm someone, she would never choose arson!"

The arguments sounded entirely plausible, and in an instant, public opinion on Noelle reversed completely.

In the comments section, everyone was begging her not to retire, apologizing for misunderstanding her, and viciously condemning Estelle for being heartless.

Noelle set down her phone with deep satisfaction, logging out of the "Insider" and "Original Poster" burner accounts.

She had hired people to mask her IP address long ago anyway, so no one would ever discover that she had orchestrated this entire thread herself.

"Noelle." Just then, Austin walked in, his gaze carrying a profound weight. "Noelle, tell me the truth. Who exactly is Yara?"

Noelle’s expression froze. She stiffened for a second before letting out an awkward laugh. "Dad, why would you ask that? Yara is just Yara."

Austin furrowed his brows. "But I can’t shake the feeling that she is Estelle. If she isn’t Estelle, why would Nathaniel treat her so well? Why would Christian insist on clinging to her? Noelle, do you know something?"

Noelle bit her lower lip, a trace of malice flashing through her eyes. "Dad, I really..."

"I already know, yet you’re still hiding it from me!" Austin interrupted. "Yara started approaching Nathaniel as soon as she returned to the country. She looks so much like Estelle and knows so many specific details. How could she not be her! She didn’t die back then..."

Austin gritted his teeth. "No, I have to bring her back!"

"Austin!" Rose came running in. "What... what do you mean by this? Noelle has been your daughter for so many years, and now you want to abandon her? Don’t you know what a wretched thing Estelle is? You..."

"Mom! Dad..." Tears streamed down Noelle’s small face. "Dad is right. Yara is indeed my sister. But Dad, it isn’t that Mom and I don’t want her to come back. It’s truly because...

"Because of how severe the public backlash was back then, do you really think it would do her any good to reclaim her identity? She has a perfect, brand-new life now. No one will hurl abuse at her over the fire from five years ago. But the moment she goes back to being Estelle, everything will change..."

Rose hastily chimed in, "Yes, Austin! We’re doing this for Estelle’s own good too. Estelle is my biological daughter, my own flesh and blood. She can’t even call me ’Mom’ right now—how could my heart not ache for her?

"But, but if we insist on bringing our daughter back, we’d actually be harming her! Just listen to how the outside world is cursing her. She’s living a perfectly fine life right now, so we shouldn’t disturb her! Besides, Noelle is so outstanding. Now that she’s retiring from the entertainment industry to focus entirely on the company, the shareholders are all very satisfied.

"If we expose Yara’s true identity now and the shareholders find out, I’m afraid it will cause unwanted complications!"

Austin knitted his brows, hesitating for a few seconds. "But we originally planned to hand the company over to Noelle on the anniversary of Estelle’s death. Since Estelle is still alive..."

To announce their adopted daughter as the company heir on their biological daughter’s "death anniversary"—wouldn’t that just be rubbing salt into their biological daughter’s wounds?

Rose’s eyes darted around frantically. "Austin, I know you feel bad for Estelle! We’ll seek her out and explain everything to her afterward. But right now, we have to prioritize the bigger picture!"

Noelle also nodded submissively. "Dad, I’ll only be a figurehead heir. If my sister needs it, I can yield everything to her. But for now, it’s best we don’t disturb her..."

The most crucial point was that if Yara reverted to being Estelle Lockwood, she would rightfully become Nathaniel’s legal wife!

She absolutely could not allow that!

Therefore, Yara could only ever be Yara. Since Estelle was supposed to be dead, she needed to remain a dead woman permanently nailed to the pillar of shame!

After all, back then, she had set the fire and framed Estelle for arson precisely because she was afraid her sister might survive and come back to fight her for what was hers.

With a crime like that hanging over her head, let’s see how she managed to resurrect herself!

Austin compromised. "Alright. In that case, I’ll contact Estelle. I should at least show some concern for her, just to prevent her from causing trouble on the anniversary."

Meanwhile, Estelle had already seen the online uproar when a new text message suddenly popped up on her phone.

In the text, Austin used what he clearly thought was a loving, fatherly tone. He said she had suffered all these years, but because the family was currently facing difficulties, they couldn’t publicly acknowledge her yet. He hoped she wouldn’t mind and insisted that everything the family did was for her own good. He added that she and Noelle were sisters, so Noelle’s success was her success, as sisters should always support each other.

A massive question mark practically materialized over Estelle’s head.

Only someone with a decade of severe brain damage could spout such nonsense.

Austin always seemed to be like this. When she first returned home, Rose scolded her constantly while Noelle mocked her for being a country bumpkin. Austin would feign a reprimand, saying, "Noelle, how can you behave like this?" Then, he would turn right around and tell Estelle, "Just bear with it. We’ve raised Noelle for so many years, and she’s used to being spoiled. You should just give in to her."

When Noelle plagiarized her work and Estelle claimed to have proof, Austin asked her to show it to him.

Trusting her father, Estelle handed over her original drafts. Austin immediately tore them to pieces right in front of her face, saying, "You and Noelle are sisters! What are you trying to do by keeping this? Ruin Noelle’s reputation? I don’t care who copied whom; you two are sisters, so it’s fine as long as one of you takes the fall. Everyone already thinks you’re the plagiarist, so why don’t you just confess to it?"

So... why was he playing the doting father now? Who was he putting on an act for?

At the Sloan family estate, Nathaniel Sloan was rapidly typing something on his computer. Hitting the enter key, he traced a specific IP address, and his expression instantly darkened.

He asked Luke White, "Where is Mr. Chapman?"

Meanwhile, Estelle didn’t bother replying to Austin’s text message.

KNOCK KNOCK. Someone knocked on the door.

Mr. Chapman walked in, putting on a show of deep sorrow. "Madam, is it really you?"

Estelle put her phone away. "Mr. Chapman?"

"Madam, I know you’ve returned. With these old bones of mine, I’m truly so happy."

Mr. Chapman paused, deliberately letting out a heavy sigh. "However, I have a presumptuous request. I hope you will agree to it, Madam.

"Please move out for the next few days."

Estelle instantly raised an eyebrow. Propping her chin on one hand, it felt as though several pieces had just clicked together in her mind. She curled her lips into a lazy smile. "Oh? I’m all ears."