<p>We present high-fidelity numerical simulations of forced evaporative dewetting to examine the formation and evolution of the liquid microlayer. A dynamic contact angle model based on the Cox-Voinov theory was implemented to accurately capture the effect of the apparent contact angle on the transition to microlayer formation. In simulations, two distinct regimes were observed–contact line evaporation and microlayer evaporation–governed by the substrate withdrawal speed and wall superheat. The predicted heat flux distributions and critical velocities exhibit excellent agreement with experimental observations. Our results provide clear numerical evidence supporting the hypothesis that microlayer formation is triggered when the apparent contact angle approaches zero. Residual flow with respect to the substrate was observed inside the microlayer. In a nucleate boiling configuration, this flow would contribute significantly to the depletion of the microlayer. Building on these insights, we implemented a reduced-order model based on lubrication theory to describe microlayer dynamics. Simulations using the model successfully reproduced the transient microlayer behavior and heat transfer characteristics observed in the full-resolved simulations. Its integration with macro-scale CFD solvers will enable a robust and physically consistent framework for simulating the entire nucleate boiling cycle by incorporating microscale physics without explicitly resolving the microlayer.</p>