Chapter 100: Out There’s A Land That Time Don’t Command
*Cheers to 100 chaps!
[FROLO]
"You’re a Moskowsky. THE Moskowsky."
"But you’re my Solnyshka," Sergei said quietly, without force.
He sounded like a man who was trying so hard to make things make sense for Katya, and maybe at the end of this, it would all be better. Only that even now, Katya didn’t understand.
He didn’t know what the alpha’s intention was for him.
It was something with the apology, and now there was dinner, and then there was also the fact that Anya was still in the room, like a loyal soldier waiting for Sergei to point her in Katya’s directions so she could annihilate him.
Oh, Katya.
"What...what is that supposed to mean, Vladimir?" Katya asked, desperate for clarity.
Any clarity on that matter?
This man was hot and cold at the same time. There was no way he would ever be able to understand Sergei. It was a myth at this point, but perhaps this was a test, right?
Sergei pointing out that he had helped should have made Katya feel better, but it only left Katya with a hundred and one questions.
Like how the alpha knew his family was going down when Katya himself had no clue until the day they were in the hospital. He had not even understood shit back then.
Much less now that Sergei was trying to be so forthcoming.
"It means you’re free, Solnyshka. Free to do whatever you want... to go wherever you want," Sergei said.
And Anya began looking for her inhaler on the floor.
Instinctively, Katya got up to help, but Sergei stopped him.
"She’ll be fine," Sergei said, but Katya looked at the alpha, then at the older woman who was crouching under the table.
"Please. Let me help her find it," Katya said, and before Sergei could say another word, Katya rushed under the table, trying to find it.
Anya got up, staring at Sergei, a smirk on her face.
"You’ll be free," Anya mouthed, holding back her laughter at how constipated Sergei looked.
"Here, Miss Anya," Katya said.
The woman just took it and went back to the window.
She didn’t say a word. Not even a thank you.
And Katya... he didn’t wait for it.
"As I was saying, you’re free to do and go wherever you want. You were in pain back then, and I was available to help. Don’t think too much about it," Sergei said, and Katya stared quietly.
Sergei noticed, however, that his eyes weren’t filled with the fear that they had been before, and that was progress.
So, Sergei continued.
"I married you on paper to protect you, not to cage you," Sergei said.
Anya stared long and hard at the alpha, trying her very best not to burst out laughing.
This was definitely going to be interesting.
Perhaps that was why Anya went to sit down again. She had to see this for herself.
Sergei noticed how Anya took out her phone and was using it, even though a part of him knew the woman was recording this for him.
Gods, he was doomed.
"I... what of the weekend? I don’t know what I did, I suspect it wasn’t as good given the backlash already," Katya said quietly, weakly even.
"Anya will let you know. I must admit, it was quite the spectacle, but nothing Anya can’t fix. You just have to trust her, even if you don’t trust me," Sergei said earnestly, and Anya put down her phone.
That...
That hurt to an extent.
It should have been comforting, but it was also the first time Anya was listening to Sergei without thinking of how he was making a fool of himself with all this.
The alpha was trying to be normal, and he was failing so spectacularly at it, to the point that it was agonizing to even watch. There was no telling what would happen, but perhaps this time, there had to be something that gave, right?
"I’ll join you for dinner, Vladimir," Katya said after a long silence.
"You don’t have to, if you’re uncomfortable. I didn’t bring you to Moscow to ruin your life. I just wanted to make your life a little easier.
"You are not my property, Solnyshka. I think that is where you misunderstood everything," Sergei said in reassurance.
Katya lifted his head to look at him.
This man’s words were foreign to his ears, but at the same time, if Katya was being honest with himself other than the contract, Sergei Moskowsky hadn’t done shit to him.
The man had kept his distance; he had not done anything that Katya could say was dangerous.
All this time, it was the fear that was driving him, and Katya couldn’t even say it was because of something that Sergei did.
He had thought he would be trafficked, but he was only being brought to a different place.
Sure, Katya still was terrified of the Moskowskys, especially the one breathing next to him, but it was a bit comforting to know that if they wanted to kill him, he would be dead already.
It was a twisted analogy, but in a life that had the Moskowskys, there was no right way to think of anything.
Even kindness.
"Solnyshka..." Sergei said, holding Katya’s hand this time.
"If I wanted to be your owner, I would have announced to everyone that I married you. Yet I didn’t. I know you don’t trust me, and I’m not asking you to suddenly change and start trusting me.
"But as I told you the first time, you are not my servant, nor are you my crony. I only married you to take some of the weight off your shoulders. As for the chairman position, you earned it.
"If Anya didn’t believe you deserved it, she wouldn’t have recommended you for the position," Sergei said, and this time, Katya turned to look at the woman who had been beside him all this time.
The woman who had been his greatest source of terror.
It was weird hearing Sergei say that Anya made the recommendation, but at the same time, it would make no sense for Sergei to leave the position. It was all just jumbled up, and Katya didn’t know what to believe.
Maybe this was going to be the start of something else, but what if this was just another trap? This man has confessed over the phone and never talked about it again.
Hell, Katya had called him once, and he never answered.
Now he was here offering freedom, that too on the day when there was an explosive scandal out there.
Katya knew he didn’t have a reason to be glad for this, but at the same time, as always, he couldn’t say no.
He just had to agree.
After all, time would eventually let him know if he was just being played with, for if this was a truth the alpha was giving him.
"Something just came up, young master. I’ll talk to the omega about his embarrassing weekend later. Please excuse me," Anya suddenly said, like she didn’t want to be there.
In truth, she was trying to process the fact that Sergei was honest with Katya and hadn’t malfunctioned.
Maybe that was progress for the alpha.
But would she call it progress if she knew that the man had gotten himself drunk right before the meeting just to muster the courage to talk to the omega?
"I think that’s my cue to get back to work, too, Solnyshka. Remember, you are free. I can only ask that until the issue with Yaroslav is resolved, you spend your nights at 13 Emerald. I’ll see you around," Sergei said.
Then he left before Katya could decide what freedom was supposed to feel like.
Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, right?
"They are Moskowskys, Katya," was all Katya reminded himself before he got up and went to work again.
When he got to his office, Katya called Rahim.
"Can I please have a new phone?" Katya asked the secretary, who simply looked at him, and then opened a drawer on Katya’s desk.
She pulled out thirteen phones, making Katya look at her like she had very well lost his mind.
"Mr. Moskowsky wasn’t sure what brand you would prefer. So, he had us buy from all the top thirteen brands," Rahim said, before excusing herself.
And Katya, he was not sure what to think of this family anymore.
Hell, he was sure what to think of anything.
"Uh... sir?" Rahim said.
Katya stared as he wondered when she had gotten back.
"These flowers came for you," Rahim said, and Katya could swear he heard a series of coughs from Anya’s office.
Maybe she was still not feeling well, right?
