From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)-Chapter 635: In His Arms, Unsteady

Micah stayed very still in Clyde’s arms as the man carried him away from Silas and Aidan. He didn’t dare move even a finger. His ear was pressed against Clyde’s chest, right over his heart, and he could feel every steady, powerful beat thumping beneath his cheek. The rhythm was calm, controlled, almost too steady for someone who had just watched him nearly get assaulted.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Each beat made Micah feel strangely safe.

Clyde’s coat was warm around him, and the faint scent of sandalwood clung to the fabric. It was a clean, sharp scent, mixed with something deep and comforting. Micah breathed it in without thinking. His tense shoulders slowly eased, even though his mind was still a mess.

They were inside the private elevator now. Clyde had taken it straight down, bypassing the main lobby. The doors slid shut with a quiet hum.

No one spoke.

The silence felt heavy, like the air before a storm.

Micah peeked up from under Clyde’s coat, lifting his gaze just enough to see the man’s face. Clyde’s jaw was tight. His lips were pressed into a thin, hard line. His eyes were dark, focused on nothing in particular as the elevator descended.

He looked... terrifyingly calm.

Not the relaxed, teasing Clyde Micah was used to. Scratch that, there wasn’t even the anger he had expected.

This Clyde looked like he was holding something back.

Micah swallowed and quietly pursed his lips. He suddenly wished Clyde would just yell at him. At least the sound of his anger would be better than this suffocating, deafening silence.

The elevator slowed. A soft chime sounded. The doors slid open. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The moment they did, Micah heard a familiar voice.

"Is he alright?" Darcy’s voice was shaky, full of worry that he wasn’t even trying to hide.

Micah flinched. Oh Shit. Another one he had pissed off.

He had completely forgotten that Darcy had seen everything.

His stomach twisted. He curled slightly tighter into Clyde’s coat without thinking, as if trying to hide deeper inside it.

Thank god he was hidden under Clyde’s jacket... otherwise he would have had to face Darcy’s disapproving eyes.

He couldn’t.

Micah bit the inside of his cheek hard.

Clyde stepped out of the elevator without slowing. "Just a sprained ankle," he said in a low voice.

Darcy let out a breath so loud it was almost a gasp. "Thank god..."

But that relief lasted less than a second. Then he snapped.

"Hey! The one hiding like an ostrich!" Darcy pointed straight at the lump under Clyde’s coat. "What were you thinking?!"

Micah winced. Before Darcy could launch into a full rant, Clyde cut him off.

"Get in the car first," Clyde said sharply. "You can scold him all you want on the way to the hospital."

Darcy froze. "Hospital? Is it that serious?"

Clyde hesitated. His eyes darkened just a little, and his grip around Micah tightened.

"That..." He paused, as if even saying the name would tear him apart. "One of the... men checked on him. We still need an X-ray."

Darcy understood immediately. Silas.

He looked at Clyde, feeling something was amiss. Clyde’s expression was unreadable. Darcy couldn’t put a name to it. It wasn’t quite anger. It was darker than that. There was something heavy behind his eyes, like he was holding down something much worse than rage.

For a moment, Darcy felt a strange chill. He actually felt sorry for Micah. If Clyde looked like this now, then Micah was probably going to get chewed from the inside out later, without Darcy even having to say a word.

Darcy shook his head and hurried after them.

The black limousine was waiting nearby. Three figures stood beside it.

Clyde walked straight toward the back door, ignoring all of them.

"Little Uncle!" Dean called out, his voice sharp with worry.

"What happened? Is she alright?" Emile asked, already stepping closer.

Jacklin was with them, clearly having tried to stop the two boys from coming down. She looked just as concerned, but her eyes were more cautious as she watched Clyde.

She was worried about Asena too, but Clyde’s expression made her uneasy. It felt like a storm was about to break.

This was not the time to crowd him.

"She’s just frightened," Clyde said without stopping. "Whatever you want to say, save it for later."

He opened the door and slid inside with Micah still in his arms.

Before the driver could close the door, Clyde added coldly, "Drive to the nearest hospital."

The driver didn’t dare waste a second. He jumped into the front seat and started the car.

Darcy climbed in awkwardly and took the seat opposite Clyde.

The door shut. The limo rolled forward.

The air inside the car felt heavy, thick with tension.

This Clyde felt different from the one Darcy remembered from his first life. There was something darker about him now, something that made Darcy’s instincts tell him to keep his distance. But he was worried for Micah.

Inside the car, Micah shifted slightly, trying to pull back Clyde’s coat.

"Put me down," he mumbled, his voice small.

Clyde’s arm tightened instantly. "If you don’t want me to kiss you in front of Darcy," he said flatly, "then stay where you are."

Micah froze. His face went bright red.

He was sitting awkwardly on Clyde’s thighs, trapped between the man’s chest and the seat, like a child being held in someone’s lap. He could feel Darcy staring at him.

He wanted to sink into the floor.

Darcy rubbed his face with one hand. "Micah, I don’t even know what to say to you right now. You actually used yourself as bait. Have you lost your mind? Do you know how scared I was when I saw you on the monitor?"

Micah turned his face away, embarrassed and stubborn at the same time. "I knew what I was doing. And you know I’ve fought three big guys before. A twig like him wasn’t a match for me."

"Really? You want to go there?" Darcy snapped. "Then who was the one who got stabbed? You? I’m telling you, this is the last time I go along with your stupid plans! I almost had a heart attack!"

Darcy’s chest rose and fell hard as he spoke.

When he had received Micah’s message earlier, he hadn’t understood what Micah was trying to do at all. He had seen Archie and Noas following Micah and thought it was just part of the plan.

Even when Micah made that strange hand signal, Darcy still thought it was a test. So he had called Clyde.

And then...

His eyes widened from what unfolded after. He had seen Noas suddenly grab Micah, tear at his clothes, and push him back. He had been so shocked that he had almost jumped out of his seat.

If Archie hadn’t punched Noas right then, Darcy would have run in himself. That was the moment he realised what Micah had done. He had been furious. He still was.

No one could understand why Noas Lobart, a man with that status would make such a move on a girl at an auction like that.

It wasn’t a bar. It wasn’t a nightclub. He wasn’t drunk or under the influence. Didn’t he think about the cameras?

The whole place was heavily monitored because of the expensive items. There wasn’t a single blind spot.

Micah had only spoken to him for a few minutes. And yet Noas had acted like a madman.

Even after getting caught, he hadn’t looked scared. He hadn’t even looked like he understood how serious his situation was.

Darcy clenched his fists. Had Noas relied too much on his family’s power? Did he really think he could get away with it?

Even though the Du Pont family were not on par with Francis, they were not without power.

That kind of behavior was something high society looked down on. They would not help the Lobart family.

Darcy knew that from his first life. He had seen how cruel and cold those people could be.

Micah, meanwhile, kept his head down. He didn’t argue anymore.

He didn’t have any real way to defend himself. And truthfully he did not want to put up a fight. He knew his move frightened Darcy and Clyde.

Even though he was a man inside, even though he knew Noas was unstable, he had still taken a gamble.

What if Noas had a knife? What if he had pushed him off the balcony? What if things had gone just a little differently?

Micah had bet on Noas’s unstable condition and acted on it. The transmigrator was in a body that was just discharged from the hospital, and losing the system had panicked him. Otherwise, he didn’t know how it would have ended.

Micah had bet on Noas being desperate and reckless. But it could have ended very badly.

"I’m sorry..." Micah whispered.

The words were barely louder than a breath.

Clyde’s silence scared him more than the fit Darcy was throwing.