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

Chapter 173: You Were Content To Let Me Shine, That’s Your Way

[FROLO]

Sergei Moskowsky was back to work.

It was no longer an assumption about the man who ran the largest business empire in the realm.

He was there. They saw him.

Clocking in.

Clocking out.

All on time.

Most days, he worked insanely late because he lived in the penthouse above his office. He simply carried his work home, which wasn’t as different.

Sometimes, everyone felt the heat of it like the first day he’d come back.

His meetings were crisp and to the point like he’d always been before.

Cold, calculated, grim.

Business deals fell apart and came together in the kind of way that only Mr. Moskowsky ever made them.

The businessman who ate contracts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was back.

And Frolo felt it hard in the first week.

Yet even then, he never sat in the chairman’s seat at the head of the shareholder table. Never had the title added to his office door. Never claimed it back.

In fact, the chairman’s office had been renamed in the second week.

Chairman Romanov, it read now.

And Sergei’s office, which had just been Mr. Moskowsky, now read CEO Moskowsky.

A change so subtle that it raised many questions that no one dared to ask. Maybe because they already knew that in Moskowsky titles didn’t matter as much for the titles himself.

He could even pose as the janitor, and everyone would know that the hierarchy never changed.

Because he was Sergei Moskowsky, he was always going to be at the top of the hierarchy, no matter what title he gave himself in his corporate hellhole.

By the third week, Katya noticed that his work flow hadn’t stopped disappearing.

Sergei still worked on the, taking most of the load off of Katya’s hands before Katya could even know it.

"Am I getting fired?" Katya had wondered once, but then Sergei never said a thing. He simply did the work and let Katya take the credit.

It was weird for a man as competent as businessman Moskowsky, but what was he supposed to do about it? He barely even saw the man anyway.

Meanwhile, the air in Moskowsky had gone back to the normal it had been like before Katya Romanov had become chairman. It was all too simple and natural, it seemed.

But nothing was simple about it.

By the end of the first month of his return to work, Katya found it unsettling that the alpha was still taking on his work. Still taking the weight off his desk.

So, he kept wondering if this was because the barbarian thought he was doing a terrible job. It was the only plausible assumption, especially not that Katya’s first year as Moskowsky chairman was done.

With time, Katya realized something.

Sergei never once corrected his work or his dealings from before. He had always approved them, which meant that Katya wasn’t doing a good job.

Sergei was just intentionally taking on a lot of work.

And who better to steal loads of work from than the group chairman?

It was then that Katya understood the familiarity of it all.

The alpha was running.

Running from something.

Diving into his work because it was the only place his mind wouldn’t come up with things. Where he would forget for some reason.

Katya knew because he had once been that person.

The runner.

And he knew running would never help.

But what was he supposed to say to the man who was always busy?

Katya had nothing tying him to Sergei Moskowsky anymore. No chaos binding him to the man that he could lose his shit over.

If anything, the office had gone to being strictly professional, like the business hell hole everyone knew the Moskowsky group to be.

Katya came to work with masked scents because it was easier that way. He was not in any danger anymore, which meant he didn’t need to always be on the lookout for mood stabilizers.

Also, it made him feel normal again because everyone at Moskowsky Holdings was required to mask their scent for the sanctity of the workplace. It was the general rule in the building that everyone followed.

Even Sergei Moskowsky, Katya had realized in the past few weeks.

’You sure it isn’t because you don’t smell the rainforest scent anymore?’ his subconscious taunted as Katya walked past Sergei’s office.

He was on his way to get lunch at the cafeteria in the building when he heard it. Something that he was sure no one was supposed to hear.

Still, it was intriguing, and well, Katya... He was nosy.

Everyone was in their office right now anyway, so no one would see him.

Even the secretaries had their little front offices on the executive floor attached to their bosses. So it wasn’t that weird for Katya.

"You can’t always be skipping meals because of work, Sergei," Irina’s voice came through the office that Katya was walking by.

Instinctively, the omega found himself a good spot to keep on eavesdropping.

The alpha skipping meals sounded real because all Katya had ever seen Sergei do was work, work, and work.

Ever since that day, he’d walked into the office and found zombies on the executive floor. Not much had changed since then, really.

"I’m busy, Irina. If you don’t have anything better to say, leave. My meal plan shouldn’t worry you," Sergei said passively.

Katya paused.

The same man who had fed him loads of chicken and fries before because Katya had been hungry... Was now skipping meals?

Still, Katya listened in.

"What the hell happened to you, Sergei?" Irina asked worriedly, her voice a reminder that Katya needed to remember that this woman was Sergei’s girlfriend.

Of course, she’d be worried for him.

"Don’t make me call Volkov to walk you out, Irina," Sergei said, his voice cold and detached.

He sounded like he had better things to do than argue with his woman right now.

"I know my way out. But you need to talk to someone. You’re not sleeping or eating. All you ever do is work like you didn’t already appoint a chairman to handle some of the work. What the hell is his job then if you carry the entire workload?" Irina shouted.

And a short silence followed.

But she was right.

Sergei was taking all the work meant for Katya, and Katya couldn’t even confront him for shit because at the end of the day, the Moskowsky group belonged to Sergei.

He could do whatever the hell he wanted and how he wanted.

But still, Katya felt like the man was running from something.

"Careful, Irina," Sergei warned, his tone passive.

"Why? This isn’t how relationships are supposed to work!" Irina insisted.

And Katya felt bad for her. She was trying to reach out to her boyfriend, and he wasn’t even cooperating with her. Damn, relationships were a bit hard, right?

Or maybe it was just in the Moskowsky blood, no?

"Feel free to leave it then... you’re wasting my time with your tantrums," Sergei said harshly, like it didn’t matter at all.

Like the months he’d been with Irina didn’t mean shit to him.

Katya flinched at his tone. That had to have stung so much, and he felt terrible for Irina, but there wasn’t much he could do anyway.

"You’re supposed to be my boyfriend, not married to your work!" Irina shouted tiredly at the alpha.

It was something that Katya had never heard her do.

Well, he didn’t know her that well, but from the interactions Katya saw on her Instagram. Their relationship was a functional one.

They always looked like they were in love.

Was this how it was when the cameras cut?

Damn.

"You knew what you were getting into, Irina. If it’s a breakup you want, then fine. Go. Leave. You are free to live your life," Sergei said boredly.

Yeah, that definitely did sting, especially with the way Sergei had said it like he was done with the bullshit.

Maybe Irina just needed to give the man time to deal with what he was dealing with, right?

Well, Katya got his answer right after that thought.

"You can’t just kick everyone out of your life because you’re working! Who the hell are you even working this hard for? Yaroslav is old enough and has his own company to run, isn’t he?

"Or is Daddy Dearest supposed to spend his life working through and through until his son grows older and has great-grandkids of his own?" Irina sighed defeatedly, her voice a little lower.