From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)-Chapter 570: Standing at the Edge of the Original Storyline

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Micah barely remembered the hours between classes, family messages, and the constant buzzing in his head. Every night, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, he regretted leaving Clyde stranded on a mountaintop like some abandoned statue. He had coaxed the man down with endless apologies and nervous chatter, but even after that, guilt hovered at the back of his mind like a stubborn shadow.

And because the Ramsy family had swarmed around him after discovering his sneaky little trick of shooting the advertisement, he couldn’t meet Clyde again during the week even if he wanted to. Every corner of the apartment complex or campus had suddenly sprouted a family member with a question, a lecture, or an excuse to keep him in sight. If they caught him hanging around the Du Pont family’s patriarch, especially in the middle of all this mess, Micah was certain he would be dragged back to the mansion, tied to a chair, and force-fed "family values" until he went deaf.

Either way, he would see Clyde soon enough. The auction was unavoidable.

But right now, Friday evening, Micah was pacing the living room like a man about to face a firing squad. His steps were uneven, jittery, almost frantic. He kept tugging at the hem of his hoodie, then running his hands through his hair, then flopping them uselessly at his sides. His jaw clenched, unclenched, then clenched again.

Darcy, who had just slipped on his jacket, watched him with growing disbelief. "Aren’t we leaving?" he asked, his tone a mix of confusion and impatience.

Micah paused mid-step, inhaled deeply, and pressed a hand to his chest like a tragic actor preparing for a dramatic monologue. "Give me a second. I need to mentally prepare myself."

Darcy blinked at him. "You do know you’re going to your own home, right?"

Micah groaned and dragged his fingers through his silver hair yet again. "You don’t get it. If I show even one opening, one, they’ll chew my flesh and spit out my bones."

Darcy stared at him as if Micah had suddenly sprouted wings and declared himself king of Jupiter. "Hello? Weren’t you the one who insisted I meet them? Weren’t you the one bragging that they’re kind and affectionate? Now you’re saying something out of a horror movie."

Micah snapped out of his pacing long enough to whirl around. "You’ll be fine," he reassured, waving vaguely toward Darcy. "You’re not the problem. The problem is me. I burned all my chances with them. They’re like... like a pile of dry leaves and I’m the spark. One wrong move and...boom." He threw his hands up to mimic an explosion. "I have to get the upper hand before they can attack me."

Darcy exhaled through his nose, shoulders dropping. He had already experienced the Ramsy treatment in his past life. Everything Micah was describing was complete nonsense. If anything, the Ramsys were hopelessly soft when it came to the fake heir. They spoiled Micah to the point of absurdity. Where exactly was the terrifying Ramsy dictatorship Micah seemed convinced existed?

Micah rubbed his palms nervously on the fabric of his hoodie, took one last steadying breath, and nodded to himself. "Okay. I’m ready. I think."

He grabbed the bags with stiff hands and followed Darcy out of the apartment, though his steps were clumsy from nerves.

The ride to the Ramsy estate felt like an eternity. Darcy had only sat for two minutes before he was already regretting this entire journey. Micah couldn’t sit still. His right foot bounced nonstop, tapping out a chaotic rhythm against the car floor. His fingers drummed anxiously on his knees. Every minute he sighed heavily, like the air inside him was too much to bear.

Even Driver Dan, who had been unfazed by everything from traffic jams to the CEO’s tantrums, couldn’t help glancing repeatedly in the rear-view mirror. He had absolutely no idea that the dark-haired man beside Micah would soon become the family’s real young master. Dan simply assumed he was one of Micah’s close friends. But the atmosphere currently radiating from the back seat... it looked more like a boyfriend being brought home to meet the parents for the first time.

After the fourth suspicious glance, Darcy finally snapped. "Eyes forward. Unless you want us wrapped around a tree, focus on the road."

Driver Dan jolted upright, his hands stiffening on the steering wheel. "Y-yes, sir!"

Micah’s head jerked up too, startled as if he had been daydreaming under water. "Mm? What happened?"

"Nothing," Darcy muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I asked you who’s going to be there tonight. Do you know?"

Micah frowned, confused. "Who? Wouldn’t it just be my parents and sisters?"

Darcy stared at him for a full three seconds. "Didn’t you say they want to introduce me to the family? Your whole family?"

"Well, yeah. Mum said that," Micah replied, still not connecting the dots.

Darcy waited. And waited. And waited. In his past life, the entire family had gathered the first time he had stepped inside. Of course, this time would be the same.

Eventually, the realisation hit Micah like a meteor.

His eyes went round as marbles. "No way. You’re kidding. No way, Darcy!"

Darcy leaned back, arms crossing loosely, his expression flat. "Your immediate family has already seen me, remember?"

Micah slapped his forehead with both hands. "Ah, what do I do? What do I even say? I’m not ready!"

"You do realise I’m the one meeting them for the first time, right?" Darcy said calmly. "Why are you the one panicking?"

"Because! I don’t know how to talk to them like this! What do I call them? How do I greet them? How am I supposed to stand? What if I mess up? It will be super awkward." Micah rattled off in a rush.

Inwardly, Micah was panicking for an entirely different reason.

How could he forget about this?

In the novel, the first time his uncles and aunts saw Darcy, there was a big commotion. The fake heir, aka Micah, had deliberately tried to humiliate Darcy. The fake heir had spiked his drink with strong liquor to embarrass him in front of the relatives. Darcy did end up drinking it, but because of his tolerance from years of bartending, he barely wavered. He managed to hold himself together with sheer willpower until the dinner ended, then escaped using his mother’s illness as an excuse.

After that came Silas, waiting at the hospital door in the dark like a predator. He took advantage of Darcy’s drunken state, tasting him, and the next morning pretended nothing had happened, making Darcy think he had dreamed. It was after this that Silas set his eyes completely on Darcy, ditching the villain sub from the Alpha Dominant app. Before that he had held back, taking his time. But after this encounter, he had put everything aside. Micah found it bizarre. Why had Silas waited until that moment? Wasn’t it better to do that before Darcy was recognised by the Ramsay family? Was there something he had missed? 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Of course, he would never change Darcy’s drink today. But the influence of the plot was something Micah feared deeply.

He felt his stomach twist into knots. He didn’t know what chain of events would trigger next. He had already changed so much. Darcy now saw horrifying visions of him and Clyde dying.

Micah didn’t know what was waiting for them at the Ramsy estate. Would some old trigger still fire? Would fate force some role onto Darcy? Would Silas appear? Would something else explode?

The closer they got to the original storyline’s starting point, the more anxious Micah became. He had altered so much, but change didn’t guarantee safety, Just because he’d changed the story didn’t mean it would obey him.