From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)
Chapter 180: Logged In, Shut Down

Chapter 180: Logged In, Shut Down

Micah’s phone buzzed in his hand. He picked up, listened for a moment, then muttered a quick "Got it," and jogged toward the campus gate.

His heart thudded in his chest, partly from the sudden sprint, but mostly from irritation. The whole day had been one mess after another, and now he just wanted to grab the food and move on.

As he reached the entrance, he slowed down, his eyes scanning the street for the black SUV Lin Heye had mentioned. A line of cars was parked by the curb, and then he saw it.

His stomach dropped. His expression twisted into a scowl.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me," he muttered, his voice sharp. "Son of a bitch! Why is he here?"

He broke into a run, storming toward the car. When he reached it, he shut the half-open door with a bang. "If you dare set one foot out of this car, I swear I’ll kill you," he growled through gritted teeth, eyes locked on Clyde.

Clyde froze, one hand on the door handle. After a long pause, he slowly let go. He didn’t say anything. He just stayed inside like Micah had ordered.

Micah glared at him and walked around to the passenger side. He climbed in, threw himself into the seat, and yanked the door closed with a loud thud. "Drive," he snapped. "Now. Just get us away from here. I don’t want another stupid picture of us going viral."

Clyde gave a slight nod and pulled away from the curb. His grip on the wheel was tight, knuckles pale, but he said nothing as he turned onto a quiet side street and drove a few blocks. He found an empty spot and parked the car with a soft click of the gear shift.

They sat in silence. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds.

Finally, Clyde broke the silence.

"I’m sorry," he said, voice low.

Micah scoffed and looked out the window. "For what?" His tone was sharp, mocking. "Suddenly feel bad?"

"My behaviour today was... unacceptable," Clyde said, his voice strained.

"Yeah. Yeah. Don’t worry about it," Micah said, waving a hand dismissively. "Next time I’ll make sure to turn around if I see her, so..."

Clyde’s jaw clenched. "That’s not..."

Micah cut him off, "Where is the food? I’m starving."

He didn’t give Clyde a chance to finish.

Clyde let out a breath, eyes flickering toward him briefly. Micah didn’t even look his way. Clyde reached behind the seat and handed over the packed food.

Micah took it with a quick grab, opened the bag, peeked inside, and gave a small nod. "Thanks," he muttered. Then he popped the door open and started to climb out. "I’ve got another appointment, so I’m heading out."

Clyde’s hand moved fast but gently. He reached for Micah’s wrist like he wanted to stop him. But Micah pulled away before he could make contact.

"Goodbye," Micah snapped. He stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind him.

He took two steps away from the car and then stopped. For a split second, he almost turned around. But he didn’t. He bit inside of his cheek and kept walking.

Clyde sat still, his hand slowly falling back to his lap. His fingers curled into a loose fist, then unfurled again. His chest felt heavy. He watched Micah walk away without looking back, fast and angry, like he couldn’t stand being in the same space a second longer.

He couldn’t blame him. Not after what happened. Not when he couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth. How could he admit he got jealous? He could not even say how he felt.

Micah was not ready to hear it. And Clyde was not ready to say it. Those words were not ones he could throw out carelessly.

Clyde leaned his head back against the seat and let out a quiet sigh. His fingers drifted to the beads on his wrist. He touched the silver thread woven between them. He stayed in the car. He didn’t chase him. He couldn’t.

Micah stomped down the pavement, his brows drawn low and his mouth pressed into a thin line. His footsteps were fast and jerky.

Stupid Lin Heye. Why did he send Clyde of all people? Why not some random staff?

Micah clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms.

That jerk. He hadn’t said a word earlier, no texts, no call, but now that Lin Heye told him why he was talking with Director Allen, Clyde suddenly decided everything was fine? What an asshole!

He didn’t care whether Clyde had believed him or dismissed his warning. He had done his part. It wasn’t his business if Clyde wanted to jump into a pit.

Yeah. Not his business. Micah nodded to himself. He quickly returned to the dorm and slammed the door shut. He threw the bag on his desk and sat in his chair. He grabbed his laptop and opened it. While it booted up, he unwrapped the food and took a few bites, chewing angrily.

After logging in, he went straight to the LOJ game launcher and signed in as FrostbiteAshe.

He fished out his phone and typed a quick message to Archie.

RogueOverlord: I’m logged in.

While waiting for a reply, he scanned through his in-game notification. Friend requests. Messages. Nothing about his identity yet.

That was a relief. So far.

So Archie was probably the only one who had found him this fast.

"Ah, Cora!" Micah narrowed his eyes and called her.

"What’s up, troublemaker? Fishing for your birthday present?" Cora said.

"Like you’ve ever gotten me anything decent," Micah grumbled. "Cut the crap. Did you tell anyone I’m FrostbiteAshe?"

"Huh? What? No! Why would I do that?"

"Then how the hell did people find out?"

"I didn’t tell anyone! Jeez! They must really like you to put in that much effort to find you. Or I say they just hate your guts." Cora laughed.

"Knock it off!" Micah snapped. "You think I am only worried about myself? They all know you are my cousin. It won’t be long before Vivian hears it, and the whole family gets dragged into it."

Cora went quiet. "Crap. What do we do?"

"Find the source of it before it gets out of hand. I’ll tell anyone who asks that we are distant relatives. You just call me cousin because it’s easier." Micah reasoned.

He wasn’t getting out of this. The whole university would know by Friday that he was that trash account, FrostbiteAshe.

But maybe he could keep Cora out of it until she was ready to confront her parents. In the novel, she had been scouted by a famous team. But the aftermath of the swapped case ruined everything, even for her.

Micah didn’t want to see his cousin lose her chance to be a pro.

"Got it. I’ll check with my friends," Cora said.

"Alright. I’ve gotta go. I’m playing with SilverBlade’s legion captain."

"What the fuck? Micah, you..."

Micah hung up the call with a satisfied tap. He muted his phone and set it aside. He glanced at the laptop screen. A message had popped up.

ShadowBishop: Let’s use my side account first.

FrostbiteAshe: Okay.

ShadowSlayer: This is me. Archie.

Micah quickly accepted the friend request.

He stretched his fingers, adjusted his headphones, and leaned back in his chair with a deep breath.

Then he queued up for a match.