From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)-Chapter 669: Out of the Game

Micah had finished lunch and was walking, if his movement could be called that, across campus to help digest the meal. With the orthopedic boot strapped securely around his foot, strolling normally was impossible. Each step was short, careful, measured, his pace reduced to something closer to a shuffle.

The campus was steeped in autumn. Golden leaves clung stubbornly to branches overhead, while others littered the stone paths underfoot, crunching faintly when stepped on. The air was cool but not cold, sunlight filtering through the trees in soft beams that painted everything in warm hues. Students passed by in groups, scarves draped loosely around necks, laughter drifting through the air.

Darcy had already wandered toward the laboratory, his professor having summoned him to assist with an experiment. Nick and Eddie had gone their separate ways as well, each returning to their respective departments.

Now, only Emile and Russell remained with Micah.

"When are you going to the hospital?" Emile asked, walking backward for a few steps so he could face Micah. "Want me to drop you off?"

"No," Micah replied easily. "Your uncle’s coming."

Emile’s eyes lit up instantly. "Oh?" He grinned. "Can’t stay away from each other? Aww... such lovebirds!"

"Shut up," Micah shot back. "He’s just a worrywart."

Russell tilted his head, confused. "Who are you talking about?"

"My boyfriend," Micah said.

"My uncle," Emile said at the exact same time.

Russell stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Huh? What?" He stared at them, eyes wide.

Micah sighed. "His uncle is my boyfriend."

"No, wait..." Russell blurted out, disbelief written all over his face. "Doesn’t that make him an old man?"

Emile burst into laughter.

Micah glared at him before turning back to Russell. "He’s not old. You’ve seen him before."

Russell’s mind went blank. "I have?"

"Yeah," Micah said. "Remember the blond man I was spotted with at the beginning of the semester? The one whose picture got circled in the forum?"

"Oh... that man..." Russell murmured slowly, his gaze unfocused as he stared somewhere past Micah’s shoulder. His brows drew together, and he tilted his head slightly, as if replaying an old memory in his mind. "Didn’t you say he was a family friend or something?"

The words sounded casual, but his thoughts were anything but. So all those speculations weren’t wrong after all.

The half-joking, half-serious discussions that had floated around the forum at the beginning of the semester... the blurry photos, the whispered guesses, the bold claims that Micah had been involved with someone far beyond the campus... all of it suddenly clicked into place.

And that meant... Russell’s chest tightened. So Archie, his older brother, had never had a chance from the very beginning. Not even a sliver of hope.

"Yes..." Micah replied after a brief pause. He continued, noticing the way Russell’s expression dimmed. "But I didn’t hide it specifically from you. At that time, we weren’t officially dating." His tone was calm and honest, without a hint of defensiveness.

Russell blinked, then seemed to come back to himself. He straightened almost immediately and forced a smile.

"I see," he said, nodding once. The response was short.

Emile, standing a step away, watched the exchange with growing confusion. His eyes flicked from Micah to Russell, then back again. Something felt off. Russell’s reaction didn’t match the words he was saying. There was a stiffness there, a heaviness that hadn’t been present moments ago.

Why did he look... upset?

Emile opened his mouth, ready to comment, when Micah’s phone suddenly rang.

The sharp vibration cut through the moment.

Micah glanced down at the screen, and his brows knit together instantly. The easy expression he’d been wearing slipped away, replaced by something more concerned. He hesitated for half a second, then lifted his hand in a small apologetic gesture toward them.

"I’ll be right back," he said quietly.

He stepped aside, moving toward the edge of the path, turning his back slightly as he answered the call. His voice dropped, too low for either of them to hear.

Emile watched him go, then slowly turned back to Russell.

"Did I judge you wrongly?" Emile asked, his tone suddenly cool.

Russell startled. "What do you mean?" His eyes widened, clearly caught off guard.

Emile narrowed his gaze slightly. "What’s with the long face?" he pressed. "What, are you a homophobe or something?"

The words were blunt, unfiltered.

Russell stiffened, then shook his head vigorously, almost panicked. "No, no! Of course not. It’s not like that at all," he said quickly, hands lifting as if to physically push the accusation away. "I was just... caught off guard. That’s all." He hesitated, then exhaled, shoulders drooping a little. "I felt bad for my brother," he admitted quietly.

Emile’s eyes sharpened. "Your brother?"

"Yeah." Russell swallowed. "Look, I’m sorry if I seemed like a jerk. My brother, Archie, has a crush on Micah. He’s liked him for a long time. So hearing this so suddenly was just... shocking. That’s all."

The words tumbled out faster toward the end, as if he were afraid Emile might misunderstand him. Emile’s expression had turned icy for a brief moment, and Russell felt a prickle of unease crawl up his spine under that stare.

Emile studied his face carefully, searching for insincerity, for discomfort that went beyond surprise. Then his expression softened. "Oh," he said, lips curving back into a familiar smile. "So that’s what it was."

He tilted his head slightly. "For a second there, I thought you were discriminating against Micah because of it."

Russell shook his head again. "Never."

"Well," Emile continued lightly, though there was steel beneath the casual tone, "you’d better let your brother know that he’s out of the game. It’ll save everyone from an awkward situation... especially Micah."

Russell nodded quickly. "Sure. Definitely."

He took a step back, glancing in the direction Micah had gone. "My next class is in the opposite direction anyway, so... I’ll head to it now."

The words came out rushed, almost mumbled.

Before Emile could respond, Russell turned and fled, disappearing into the flow of students moving across campus.

Emile crossed his arms and watched him go for several seconds, brows slightly furrowed. Only after Russell had completely vanished did he turn his head toward Micah’s direction.

Micah was standing still, phone lowered now, staring blankly at the ground as if he hadn’t quite re-entered the present yet.

Emile walked over. "Hey," he called gently. "Are you alright?"

Micah blinked, as if pulled out of deep thoughts. "Uh... yeah," he replied after a beat. "Let’s go."

He turned and began walking slowly toward his next class, his pace careful, uneven.

Emile fell into step beside him, glancing at the phone still clenched in Micah’s hand. He hadn’t seen who was on the call, but something was clearly wrong. Micah’s usual sharpness felt dulled, his attention scattered.

Micah tightened his grip on the phone until his knuckles whitened. His thoughts were in chaos.

Before he had recorded the advertisement for Ramsy Empire’s new product, he hadn’t known anything about the actor involved... about Ilyas, about the roles he had played in his past lives, about the tragic patterns that seemed to follow him no matter how the world reshaped itself.

But now...

Now that his memories had fully returned, he knew exactly what ending awaited Ilyas if things were allowed to continue unchanged.

He should have cut his part from the project. He should have intervened earlier. But too many things had happened at once. The system. The auction. Zhou Ruyan’s declining health. His own instability. His mind had been muddled, overwhelmed, and constantly pulled in a dozen directions. And then Zhou Ruyan had requested the ad to be released early. She wanted to see Micah’s acting.

Willow’s call had been brief, professional, devastating in its simplicity. It was already out. Too late.

Micah’s chest tightened as dread crept in. What if something happened to Ilyas again... just like in his past lives?

Even if Noas Lobart wasn’t involved in this timeline... who was to say the danger had disappeared? What if it wasn’t Noas doing at all and someone else was lurking in the shadows?

Micah swallowed hard. If he had been part of this chain of events, then he couldn’t walk away from the consequences. He had to take responsibility. He had to protect Ilyas... from whoever was watching, waiting, obsessed enough to destroy him.