Chapter 457: Would Things Turn Out the Same This Time Too?
The next morning, Darcy caught Micah in the kitchen. He didn’t know how to talk to him, let alone thank Micah for calling the doctor.
The truth was, he wasn’t used to this. In his past life, when he was hurt, no one cared about him. He had always dealt with his pain alone.
So when Micah said he was going diving again, Darcy frowned and decided to tag along.
If what Aria had told him was true, Micah had once been in a diving incident in the past, the one that caused him PTSD, long before the truth about the baby switch came out.
He decided to observe Micah. He couldn’t shake the feeling that history was repeating itself in fragments.
Darcy felt he had to be sure whether everything besides Micah’s behaviour would happen as before, or if things had truly changed. Would everything be the same? What if this world were a parallel world to his and completely different?
For his next move, he needed to know whether his memories from his past life were accurate, useful, or just useless rubbish.
Early morning, and they were at the water’s edge. The ocean stretched endlessly before them. Micah fastened his gear with practised ease, laughing with the diving guide. He looked confident, almost radiant.
Darcy sat on the boat, his gaze sharp as he watched Micah fit his mask and dive into the water first. There was no pause, no hesitation, no fear.
Darcy followed. He watched him from afar as Micah moved with grace. Then in an instant, everything shifted. A sudden massive swarm of fish passed through them. The guide was swept to one side. Darcy spun, found himself separated from them.
He began swimming, searching for Micah. Then he spotted him, trapped by a kelp strand.
Darcy’s pulse hammered. He hovered, watching for a second that stretched too long. If he did nothing... if he just waited, would Micah vanish for good? Wouldn’t that solve everything? No fake heir. No obsessed four men. No family drama.
The thought flashed in his mind like a cruel whisper. But before it could root, something inside him recoiled. His chest burned. His heart screamed against it. Darcy clutched his heart underwater.
A small grim smile tugged at his mouth behind the mask. Bubbles escaped with his next breath. "Easy. Even if you didn’t object, I would never do that. I am not a murderer," he told himself.
He kicked forward, slicing through the water. Micah struggled as he placed the regulator on his mouth. He ignored the gesture and grabbed the kelp, tugging hard.
The young man tried to push him away, panic in his eyes, as if he were more worried about Darcy than himself.
Darcy found it strange. Why was he worried about him? It was human instinct not to want to die. Most people, when faced with death, would cling to anyone, anything to survive. But Micah was trying to hand him his oxygen regulator, urging him to take it.
Darcy took one breath before returning to Micah. He cut through the kelp with his knife and wasted no more time dragging Micah out of the water.
When he saw Micah unconscious, his heart sank. If he had not been here...
Without waiting for a second, he performed CPR quickly until the young man regained consciousness.
He collapsed beside Micah, breathless. His eyes drifted to the young man, his mind in turmoil.
So how the hell had Micah from the past life been rescued in time?
If he were not here, would Micah have nearly died on this day? Who rescued him? The guide? He had no idea the trauma was so life-threatening.
He clenched his fists, trembling. His mind replayed the past again. Another body of water, another fall. The resort. The bridge.
Darcy remembered the incident from his past life, the resort trip the Ramsy family had dragged him to.
He and Micah had gotten into a fight. Darcy had been furious after Archie had suddenly kicked him off their esports team, claiming that keeping him around would dampen Micah’s mood since Archie wanted to pursue him, wanting to show sincerity to Micah, wanting to show he was on his side.
It was all bullshit. He couldn’t believe all the years of being his teammate meant nothing to Archie. They got the trophy thanks to his contribution to the team and yet that man had the audacity to brush him off, looking down on his efforts.
It hadn’t been just Archie. Leo, his childhood friend, had completely cut him off the moment his eyes had landed on Micah. Silas, his mother’s doctor, the one who had helped him to manage to get his hands on that pricy medicine easily, had been infatuated with Micah too. And the last one... Aidan who had been his investor, his partner to launch his new mobile game, fell madly in love with Micah as well.
All of them had been put under a spell... the one named Micah.
Anyway, the way Micah pestered him that day, trying to defend Archie, got on his nerves. So he walked away. But Micah followed him to the small bridge, and then he slipped and fell into the lake.
Darcy hadn’t thought much of it. He waited for the young man to come to the surface. But Micah never did.
He panicked and dove into the lake. He found Micah and dragged him out. By now, the ruckus had made a crowd gather. And people assumed he was the one with malicious intentions to shove Micah into the lake. The absurdity of it still burned.
How the hell was he supposed to know the young master of the influential family could not swim? Had a trauma of drowning?
But no. To them, it appeared he had done it intentionally. They claimed everyone knew. How could he not know?
It didn’t help that he didn’t like to talk or explain himself. By then, he had got used to the Ramsy family, those four men, or anyone near Micah not hearing him out at all.
What had been truly laughable was that when Micah regained consciousness, he claimed he didn’t remember anything. That only made the situation worse.
He had been officially branded as a vicious guy.
Ha, it was typical. Micah couldn’t remember! Always... It was always like this. The fake was innocent and he...
Darcy shut his eyes for a moment.
Would things turn out the same this time too?