From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)-Chapter 594: The Protagonist Who Was Replaced (part one)

Micah sat very still on the bed, his fingers curled lightly over his knees as heaviness pulled him back into memories he had tried so hard to bury. His breathing slowed. His lashes trembled. His expression softened as he gazed at the blond man kneeling beside the bed. Clyde Du Pont.

His only hope. His only love.

Without him, could he have survived all that cruelty? Micah was sure that the only force that drove him forward was Clyde’s unconditional love for him. Otherwise, those terrifying lifetimes would have crushed his soul long before he ever regained awareness.

After he foolishly put his trust in that system, the world indeed reset. But Micah had completely forgotten one important factor. If he lost his protagonist aura, what would become of him? And if his role vanished, who would take it so the world wouldn’t collapse?

The consequences showed themself almost instantly to him. Micah scoffed inwardly. How pathetic he was back then....

When the reset began:

In that reset world, Micah remembered waking up full of hope, thinking everything would finally be okay. He could fully repay his debt to Darcy, preventing Flora and Nora’s demise. And his family business would be fine as the system and its host would not meddle anymore. Micah had not even been slightly concerned about his position, losing his protagonist aura. Thinking love would win simply because it had existed before.

He remembered sitting in the garden of Ramsy estate, listening to the wind rustle through the leaves, believing naively that those who once loved him would do so again.

How wrong he was.

At first, it was subtle. A shift here, a hesitation there. Averted glances. Conversations that ended when he entered the room.

Then came the moment that shattered him.

He remembered standing beside the grand staircase, watching one of the men who had once sworn devotion to him walking toward him, how Micah’s heart leapt, how happy he was thinking he was coming for him. He had opened his mouth, calling his name sweetly, but he had rushed past without even looking at him. Micah froze, his widened eyes following his lover’s figure who rushed toward Darcy.

One by one, they surrounded the true young master, flirting with him while Darcy either ignored them or outright rejected them.

Micah’s fingers curled inwards at that time, swallowing his bitterness, the sting and the shame. He had forced a smile that felt like cracked porcelain.

He had tried to comfort himself, repeating in his mind: It’s okay. It’s fine. At least Darcy will be alive, will be happy this time. You can endure it. It’s for the best. Love doesn’t need to be returned.

What a lie.

Micah had struggled accepting his new role, yet he persisted, believing his sacrifice would end up helping the people he cared about.

He tried to separate himself from his past lovers, following the advice, out of sight out of mind. His fragile heart wasn’t able to stand the sight of them pampering Darcy. He didn’t want to be jealous. He didn’t want to ruin the peaceful balance that he had created with his own hand.

But it didn’t take long for those four men, once dignified, once gentle, to turn into something else entirely.

Micah remembered watching them from a distance during a visit to Flora at the hospital. Darcy had stepped into the hallway, irritated, and those four followed him, practically pouncing on him.

Their eyes, once warm and affectionate toward Micah had turned possessive, aggressive, hungry toward Darcy.

Micah felt a cold sweat break on his back as he watched.

Aidan had grabbed Darcy’s wrist. Leo blocked his path. Archie leaned in too close. Silas watched them with a kind of dark amusement.

Micah had stepped forward, instinctively wanting to separate them, but someone bumped into him, waking him up from his trance.

Stay out of the way, a whispering sound reached his ear. You’re not the protagonist anymore. Micah remained rooted on the ground.

Later that night, Micah had sat alone on the edge of his bed, his eyes blurry, whispering to himself.

"At least, Darcy will be safe. Maybe... maybe he’ll even fall in love with them... and he’ll be cherished just like me, right?"

He had pressed his palms to his face, trying to swallow the panic and despair inside him.

But the reality soon slapped him in the face.

It wasn’t long before Micah realised the sickening truth.

Those four turned into beasts, just wanting to get Darcy, not caring about anything else, might be Darcy’s feelings or harming others.

He heard Darcy cursing them. "Let go of me, you fucking lunatic!" He struggled when Aidan leaned down and kissed him despite the resistance.

Still, Micah held back, thinking to himself, Darcy might curse the four men but his resentment would go away when he felt their true love. Yeah. The real young master he knew had a prideful personality, not easily lowering his walls around his heart.

When Aidan ended the kiss, he scooped up Darcy, glaring at Micah, eyes full of disdain.

Micah froze, watching silently as Darcy was dragged away.

That night Micah had thrown a vase across his room, chest heaving, breath ragged.

"What the hell is love?" He had whispered with a bitter laugh. "If this is how they show it?"

But the four men were not the only ones who turned on him in that twisted reset of the world.

Micah helplessly saw that those schemes that Darcy suffered in his past life all of a sudden had fallen on him. Those who loved him, family and friends, turned their backs on him. Micah had been too shocked to realise what was happening around him.

Micah remembered sitting in the Ramsy family living room, expecting comfort, expecting someone, anyone, to ask how he was doing.

Instead, he heard whispers.

"He caused trouble again."

"He’s jealous of Darcy, isn’t he?"

"He should know his place now."

"He’s not worth the attention." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Then came the stolen data chip matter. Everyone pointed their fingers at him, accusing him of theft and betraying the family.

Micah had stepped forward, voice trembling. "Mom... Dad... what are you talking about? I didn’t..."

His mother had looked at him with cold eyes. "Micah, stop lying."

He had felt physically struck.

"Lying? I...I didn’t do anything."

But no one believed him. Not the family who once adored him. Not the friends who once defended him. Not the people who once claimed they would die for him.

"What did I do wrong?" Micah had whispered to himself that night, hugging his knees on his bedroom floor. "Is this... is this how Darcy felt in the last life?" His voice cracked. "Did I do something this awful to him?"

His chest caved inward with guilt.

He wasn’t the protagonist anymore. He wasn’t adored. He wasn’t protected. He wasn’t even believed.

He had become a burden. A stain. A target.

The end came faster than he expected.

In his despair, he had sneaked to the place that once was his home. Yeah. He had stepped into the house where he lived with his lovers in his past life. He needed comfort, needed something to grasp as a last resort. He thought he would lose his mind, would break if he did not see with his own eyes Darcy’s happiness. He wanted to steel his heart. If Darcy was laughing and cuddling with them, wouldn’t that mean all of his suffering was for a great cause? That it came to fruition?

Haha.... How ridiculous. How naive.

Instead of joyful love, instead of a harmonious interaction between Darcy and those four, he stumbled on the horrifying truth. He watched the videos on Leo’s laptop in a trance, telling himself it was all a lie.

But the more he watched, the more his mind was forced to face reality.

There was no love. Not even consent. It was all one-sided manipulation, coercion, humiliation and rape.

Rage and disgust had filled his mind the more he thought back to what had happened until now. All those push and pulls were not just flirting, they were not a lovers’ spat. It was all Darcy’s struggle to escape his predators.

Micah remembered storming into a room where Darcy was being hidden. He had fought, literally fought, those four monsters, cursing them, clawing at them, screaming at them to stop hurting Darcy.

He remembered throwing a lamp at one of them. Punching another in the jaw. Shouting until his voice broke:

"HE’S A PERSON, NOT A POSSESSION!"

But the four men had not listened.

They had dragged Micah out by his arms and thrown him into the dirt, like he was a stray dog interfering with their entertainment.

"Get lost," Archie said coldly. "Darcy doesn’t need you."

Those words carved themselves into Micah’s heart like a dagger.

He had lain there, cheek pressed to the cold ground, staring up at the villa lights, whispering:

"I loved you all. And you... You don’t even see me anymore."

That was the moment everything inside him finally cracked.