From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL) Chapter 409: Salted Fish Diaries: Four Days into Villa Jail

The villa by the sea:

Days passed, slower than the last. For Micah, life at the villa turned out to be too boring. There was nothing but scenery. Beautiful, yes, but empty. The sea stretched endlessly beyond the horizon, waves gentle, sand glimring, air clean. Yet it was quiet. Too quiet.

The beach was always deserted. And the town was dead. It wasn’t the right season even though it was a famous tourist destination. They sward here just in winter during Christmas tis, when the rest of the world was too cold and snowy, this place was like a heaven. But this ti of year, in the middle of autumn, there was not much action.

Every morning, he walked on the sand beach with his grandmother, talking about the scenery, his childhood, and other things that were not serious.

Afterward, they ca back to the villa. There, Micah would sit on the balcony, sketching for hours. Lines of fabric lay on his desk, and he tested colours, combinations, and cuts. His hand moved quickly, but every now and then, his pencil would still, his eyes stared at the beach in blankness.

His grandmother teased him about it whenever she caught a glimpse of his sketches. "You’ve never once made n’s clothing. And now suddenly, everything is for a man. Hm, I wonder who you have in mind." Her smile always ca with that knowing look.

Micah would flush, mumbling excuses, his eyes darting anywhere but her face.

But she was right. It was obvious who he had in mind.

At night, when the house grew quiet, Micah locked his door and curled up with his new phone. That was when he called Clyde.

Their conversation was simple and trivial. He rambled about his walks, about a funny-shaped shell he picked up, about how the fabric shop in town was disappointing but had at least one decent bolt of navy wool. Clyde mostly listened. He rarely interrupted, and when he did, it was with short responses: Hm, I see, that’s good.

Neither of them ntioned anything about the truth of his birth, or Darcy, or those four scums.

The man had beco quieter. Micah pretended not to notice. He never asked why, though.

He feared the answer. What if Clyde told him to co back? Could he? No, he was scared. Scared to et anyone. He couldn’t face them. He had switched off his phone, shoving it into the bottom of his suitcase. The only way he could talk with Clyde was because he had bought a new SIM card upon arriving here.

Zhou Ruyan never ntioned Isatis city either. She never brought up what was happening there.

It was as though he had sealed himself inside a bubble, too afraid to let the outside world leak in. Too afraid to hear or see sothing he shouldn’t.

He knew he was a coward. But... He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t gather the courage to face it.

How many tis had he tried? How many tis had he sat at his desk with a pen and paper, writing letters to Darcy? To apologise? To tell how sorry he was that he didn’t tell him sooner? That the ti spent together wasn’t just for the guilt. No, he genuinely liked being with Darcy.

But the truth would change everything. Even if the two of them wanted to stay as close as before, the people around them would not let them. Their gazes, their whispers, their mocking or pitying... all of them would affect them. He wasn’t naive enough to believe life was a fairytale.

One afternoon, Micah threw himself onto the sofa and groaned loudly, stretching his arms and legs like a salted fish. "Grandma... It’s been four days. I’m bored," he wailed.

Zhou Ruyan sat at the table, peeling a pogranate. Her movents were slow and precise, her fingers stained red from the juice. She separated the white part carefully, setting each blistering section aside.

Micah’s eyes flickered to the colour, and for a split second, an image stabbed into his mind, a hand covered in blood. His stomach twisted, and he quickly shook his head, clearing his mind.

Zhou Ruyan pushed one of the pogranate clusters toward him. "Eat."

Micah picked a piece and popped it into his mouth. The taste was sweet and sour.

"Why don’t you play your video ga? I rember you liked it before." She suggested it.

Micah pursed his lips. He wanted to play, but using his main account was out of the question. FostbiteAshe was too famous, and Darcy and most people around him knew he was him.

His alt account would work. He could use that one to tease Archie a bit, venting so of his tension on the man.

"Good idea, Grandma!" He jumped to his feet suddenly, startling Zhou Ruyan.

Without waiting, he dashed toward his room, his slippers slapping against the floor.

Zhou Ruyan watched him disappear, her smile fading the mont he was gone. She let out a long sigh.

Even though he was away, away from Isatis city, away from the drama, she could still see the toll it had taken on him. The dark lines under his eyes, the loss of his appetite, his hollow eyes, the way his shoulders sagged when he thought no one was watching. He was fading piece by piece.

Zhou Ruyan’s heart sank. She was scared. If Micah was already withering like this now.. What would happen when they returned?

Wouldn’t he break completely? Would going to see a psychologist help him? Would he open up to one?

She wasn’t sure. The boy had too much pride.

And that man...

Her lips pressed into a thin line. Why didn’t he co to Micah? Why wasn’t he here, holding him together? Was it a one-sided love after all? Couldn’t he see how much Micah was slipping away?

She sighed again, the sound heavy, almost defeated. She picked another pogranate seed and placed it in her mouth.

But the taste was bitter now.