Contract Marriage: Married to My Ex-Husband's Alpha Stepfather [BL]

Chapter 145: ’Cause Darling, Without You, I’m A Waste

[FROLO]

Disbelief would be an understatement.

Obsession would be an overstatement.

Excited was a little too close.

Insane was a little too far.

And Sergei...

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

The sight itself has him thinking on overdrive. He was trying to make it make sense, but what rational explanation was she supposed to give for this?

The backpack had three items.

His sweater for the night, Katya ran into him and Irina.

His scarf from that night, too.

And something else that had Sergei wondering what the fuck he was looking at.

His water bottle.

No.

His favorite water bottle that had mysteriously disappeared ten months ago.

He had asked Anya about it, and Anya swore she had never seen Sergei with a water bottle ever. Even worse, she made him believe that he was careless and had lost the damn thing, like Sergei had not always carried it everywhere.

But Sergei had never been careless. Not when it came to his favorite things.

And now his water bottle was in here.

The ’S’ Anya had long drawn on its back, still obviously imprinted on it.

He couldn’t even say that this wasn’t his.

He knew it by heart.

And it was in Katya’s backpack.

Sergei stared at the items in the bag, his confusion growing with every passing minute.

The water bottle was the most diabolical of things.

Because even now in this office, Sergei could see another water bottle on Katya’s desk. And it had water. Hell, it had been used. Yet the bottle in the backpack was dry and hadn’t been used in a long while.

"What the fuck?" Sergei wondered as he stared at the items.

Then he noticed something else.

His scent blended with Katya’s on the scarf and the sweater. And while he could say it was because Sergei had been using them when he gave them to Katya, it had been three months since Sergei had given them.

His scent should have faded by now.

Yet his scent was blended with Katya’s in the kind of way that had him sniffing it a little more.

The scent was recent.

Recent as in today, kind of recent.

These items had been used.

Today.

This morning.

Sergei stiffened.

That was too far a stretch.

Katya hated him.

Katya was angry with him.

Katya spent money recklessly to punish Sergei.

There was no way that Katya still wore Sergei’s scarf and sweater inside the office while keeping Sergei’s lost water bottle from months ago.

Then Sergei noticed the temperature on the air conditioner.

It was low.

Lower than outside the office.

More like intentionally lowered.

Sergei found his legs staring at the backpack and the items even more.

"He’s been using them," Sergei breathed like a man who had finally lost every ounce of his sanity and was beyond thinking with his brain. If he even had a heart that could be considered.

Sergei was doomed.

The alpha found himself smiling instead of staying angry.

Katya had his items.

Katya, even angry with him, still used his things.

Katya had called him. Twice.

And for a moment, Sergei stayed in that bubble. The one that had Katya calling him and holding onto his things like his life depended on it.

Sergei then grabbed the phone off the table. He was going to use that as an excuse to get Katya from the senators’ hold.

Besides, it was pretty obvious that they would be going to Katya’s penthouse. That was an hour’s drive away. And Sergei had something better.

A functional helipad.

Helicopters that belonged to him.

He would utilize them today.

Oh, he was giddy as fuck.

Sergei returned the sedate, the scarf, and the water bottle to the backpack.

But not before scenting them afresh. He would make sure it was his scent that kept Katya sane through his heat, even if Katya was still angry with Sergei.

That was the mad barbarians’ exciting grace.

"I’m coming for you, Solnyshka," Sergei said as he returned the items into the backpack, taking Katya’s phone and dropping it inside too.

Katya would need his phone for when he woke up anyway, right?

However, before he could leave, he noticed the voicemail had been running this whole time. Repeating the same shit. Sergei hadn’t paid attention to it all at first.

But then he focused.

There was nothing to lose, right?

"I tried calling you on your phone, but it looks like you’re on a call with someone else, so I’ll just leave a message here. I’m on my way. Drink some water while you wait. I’ll be there soon, my rose," the senator’s voice came through.

And like someone had poured cold water on Sergei, the alpha faltered.

Katya hadn’t called him first.

Katya had called the senator.

Then called Sergei.

Because the sensor was running late.

Not because he wanted to call Sergei.

Oh, but it was a painful realization that had Sergei sitting on his omega floor, shoulder slumped and rage building so fast.

Again, he had not been chosen.

The omega chose the perfect senator boyfriend over Sergei, who had given him everything.

And for the first time in a while, Sergei was truly scared.

Because he was losing to the senator.

The man was perfect in every way.

There were still even roses in the office right now. The man took Katya to dinner as a normal person. Kept his promises to Katya while Sergei didn’t even know how to form a paper sentence around Katya without sounding like a dick.

And he knew that this was one he would never win.

Maybe he should have left it at that.

But Sergei was curious.

He wanted to know whether he had gotten it all wrong.

Whether the items were just there because Katya didn’t know where to dump them, or if he was keeping them for his own safety.

But at the same time, it was a sweater, scarf, and bottle in a fight?

Begrudgingly, Sergei returned the backpack to the seat and walked out, as he should never have been there in the first place.

Then he went to his penthouse and took a camera he’d bought months ago when Katya wouldn’t talk to him. He’d wanted to use it to check on Katya. But right now, he needed to know if he was hallucinating.

So, the alpha went back to Katya’s office.

Then planted the camera in the one corner that he was sure no one would see.

He just wanted to know if he was losing his mind again.

That was his excuse.

Once he set it, Sergei stepped out of Katya’s office. Locked it carefully, like he didn’t want to ruin it.

He couldn’t mess up Katya’s office.

Katya would never forgive him.

At least with the rest of the office, Sergei was the owner and could do whatever he wanted.

But not to Katya.

Never to Katya.

Certain that the door was locked properly, the alpha turned to go to his office.

It was supposed to be easy.

A usual routine anyway in the office.

Sergei needed a drink, and he would have it.

But then he looked up.

And right at the end of the hallway of the trashed office...

Was his son.

Yaroslav had seen him come out of Katya’s office.

Sergei stiffened.

Until his son spoke.

"F... Father... Did... Did you... Did you kill Katya?" Yaroslav asked, his voice panicky.