Chapter 465: The Morning He Brought Him Home (part four)
Flora sat down slowly, her eyes scanning the table. Breakfast was more elaborate than their usual. A soft smile tugged at her lips. She realised Darcy was trying to save face in front of Micah.
Micah took a seat across from her while Nora slid into the chair beside Darcy.
Darcy set the plates down carefully, his movements neat. Then, without thinking, he slid the sunny-side-up egg in front of Micah.
Darcy paused, caught off guard by his own action.
Micah didn’t think much of it. The two had eaten together enough times to know who liked what.
But to Flora, watching from across the table, the gesture meant something else. In this house, no one liked sunny-side-up eggs. Her gaze softened, but her voice carried a tremor when she spoke. "You two..." she began cautiously. "Do you still want to be together?"
Micah halted his fork halfway to his mouth. He looked up, puzzled. "Huh?"
Darcy set a warm glass of milk in front of both Nora and Micah. "What do you mean, Mum?"
Flora hesitated. "You know, after everyone finds out about the switch... things will get really hard for you two. People can be cruel sometimes." She paused, lowering her eyes. "If you end up... marrying each other..."
A chorus of coughing erupted around the table. Micah nearly choked on his milk, Nora’s eyes went wide as saucers as she slapped a hand over her mouth, and even Darcy coughed once before straightening up.
"Mum, I think..." Darcy started, but Nora shot up from her chair, pointing at him and Micah in disbelief.
"No way! You two are really together?" Nora gasped. "I knew you looked good together... my friends said it too... but I thought you were just friends! Why didn’t you tell me? I am always the last one to know! This is so unfair!" Her voice rose dramatically as she stomped her foot.
Micah’s entire face burned crimson. He covered his mouth, coughing again just to hide it. Thank god it was just four of them... If Flora had said those words in a gathering and Ramsy family or Clyde were there... Micah shivered.
Darcy rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Sit down, Nora. You are mistaken. Mum too."
Micah nodded vigorously, his voice slightly higher than usual. "Yeah. Nothing is going on between us."
Flora frowned, unconvinced. "Boys... you don’t have to lie because of me. If you love each other, just tell us. I’ll try to talk to the Ramsy family and figure out a solution."
"Mum," Darcy said helplessly. He didn’t have the heart to deny it outright. Her words, if you love each other, struck somewhere deep in his chest. His heart swelled before he could stop it, betraying the calm expression he tried to maintain. The influence of Darcy of this world made him tongue-tied. He thought for a second that if he were a bit more of a villain, or a bit more desperate, he would have seized this opportunity and trapped Micah.
Micah wiped his mouth with a napkin, flustered. "Ah, this is not really true. We are not in a relationship. Darcy, tell her!"
Darcy looked at Micah’s face, where panic was written all over it, and paused. A part of him wanted to tease, to claim Micah, to say yes, he was his boyfriend, just to watch him squirm. But another part scolded him, telling him not to use force or coercion. He didn’t want Micah to be with him out of pressure or pity, not like that.
Darcy’s silence made Micah’s heart sink. The colour drained from his face. No way! Did Darcy really want to use this to force him to show his sincerity? Was this Darcy’s way of testing him, to see if he really meant it when he said he would do anything for him? To prove he could make him happy and content?
Flora watched them with worry. Truthfully, she didn’t want to bring up the matter this soon. But curiosity got the better of her, and the words slipped out. She knew Micah had left the city. So Darcy probably had gone after him and brought him back. If it wasn’t love, then what was it?
And Micah followed Darcy here instead of Ramsy estate... she thought the Ramsy family were against them being together, so they came here. But their reaction was a bit off. Especially Micah. Was there something she didn’t know?
Nora grumbled under her breath. "No one ever takes me seriously. No wonder they didn’t want me to tag along. They were on a date..."
Darcy sighed. He could see that Flora was genuinely worried, Micah was panicking, and Nora was just sulking. What a mess.
He didn’t want to have anything to do with Ramsy’s family. If he forced Micah into a relationship, he had to go against them. He wasn’t excited about that. If he wanted to get revenge on them, he preferred using methods other than emotional ones.
"Mum, Micah likes someone else," he said at last.
The room went dead silent.
"Huh? You mean you like him, but he doesn’t like you back?" Nora quickly caught up.
She pointed at Micah. "Even if you are my biological brother, you don’t have the right to hurt my brother! My brother is the best! How could you not like him?"
Micah sighed in relief at first when he heard Darcy’s response, but then Nora’s accusation made his chest stuffy. "Hey! Who said Darcy is not perfect?" he shot back. "He is the kindest, most loyal, and caring person I have ever seen. He deserves the best. I’m not good enough for him."
His outburst made the table fall silent a second time.
Micah’s face turned red again, realising what he had said.
Darcy lowered his head, a smug smile on his face.
Nora folded her arms. "Hmph, glad you know it," she said, pleased.
Flora’s eyes darted between the two, thinking Micah was contradicting himself. He probably said to Darcy that he liked someone else because he wanted to protect Darcy. Her heart ached. These two... What a tragic love story!