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

Chapter 181: What If We Rewrite The Stars?

[FROLO]

Sergei stared at the phone. He knew he needed to pick up, but he didn’t know if he was in his right mind for it, not after the news segment.

He wanted to be a better person and gods; he was trying so hard.

Trying to be the man Vitya would be proud of.

The man that Vitya would look at and smile at again. But also, he was going to an event with the man he cared about, and he didn’t know what the conversation there would be like.

He had to watch Katya with Alek, too.

Frankly, that had him closer to staying home despite the news segment having motivated him to get up. Maybe he really was a coward, but even if he was, it wasn’t like anyone would say it to his face, right?

"Staring at your phone ringing won’t make me stop calling, Vladimir," Katya’s text came through as the phone kept ringing.

Sergei let out a chuckle at that.

His Solnyshka was persistent, determined to get him out of there, and frankly, it was amusing.

Maybe that was why Sergei picked up.

Or maybe because it was the distraction he needed from the emptiness that Vitya had left him with, right?

"I wasn’t staring at it ring," Sergei said defensively.

Katya laughed softly at the other end.

He sounded relaxed, happier, and Sergei wished he were the reason for that happiness. He wished for a lot of good things for his Solnyshka, and it hurt that some of them would happen without Sergei being a part of it all.

Yet that was a sacrifice he should have been ready for, right?

"How are you feeling?" Katya asked in earnest.

Sergei considered giving an honest answer. He knew Katya would listen, but he didn’t need another therapist, much less the one person he yearned so desperately for; being his therapist was just insane.

"Like this, tux is about to kill me before I’m sold off for pennies," Sergei grumbled, walking out.

"If it’s any comfort, I’ll make the first bid high so you won’t exactly be sold off for pennies," Katya added, and Sergei smiled at that.

His Solnyshka.

His precious Solnyshka.

Damn.

"Alright, I suppose I’ll see you there. I just have to survive the drive first," Sergei said in earnest.

"Do you have a favorite song?" Katya asked suddenly.

"Why the fuck would I have a favorite song?" Sergei asked as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had heard all day.

"Oh, dear gods... okay... uhm... what do you like to think of other than what Frolo thinks of you as?"

’You,’ Sergei wanted to say.

’Always you,’ he wanted to add.

But he couldn’t.

"Katanas," Sergei said as he got into the elevator and it began going down.

"Katanas?" Katya asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Yeah. They cut through bones faster than any combat knife. Are light and easier to handle," Sergei said honestly.

"Okay. Looks like we gotta get you something else to think of other than Katanas, at least for this day," Katya began.

Sergei stilled for a moment.

He had been expecting judgment. Or maybe something along the lines of morality and all that shit. But Katya didn’t even suggest shit like that.

If anything, he was talking to Sergei like they were normal.

Like this was just about two people who had been around each other enough not to judge their habits. Somehow, that was more comforting.

Because if it had been Anya, Anya would have probably rolled her eyes at Sergei and given him the Katanas as his comfort weapons.

Katya wasn’t even thinking like that.

And it was interestingly heartwarming for Sergei.

"You convinced me to be sold off, and now you want to give me something other than Katanas?" Sergei complained when the elevator stopped.

Katya had been silent on the other end, but he was tapping the surface as if to let Sergei know that he was still on the line.

That he was still thinking of something.

That he was dedicated to this.

And gods, it was pulling Sergei’s heartstrings in the way that Katya would probably never know.

"Well, yes. I don’t want you looking constipated at the event whenever one comes, trying to make small talk with you, and you want to snap their necks.

"Anyway, I think I figured out something you can think of on your ride here, seeing as there is traffic in the city," Katya said, and Sergei sighed curiously.

He knew there was no talking Katya out of this, not that he wanted to. But it was nice hearing the omega talk to him without feeling so pressured or scared anymore.

"Hold on, before that... aren’t you going to the event?" Sergei asked.

Katya laughed lightly.

"I’m on my way there now. There is a lot of traffic. And before you ask, Alek is still at the senate; he’ll meet us there," Katya said, like he already knew what Sergei was thinking.

And the way he had spoken to Sergei made the man want to stay on the phone with Solnyshka forever. Would that ever be possible?

"I—" Sergei trailed off, not sure what to say to that. He sounded like he had been caught in a lie, but would it matter this time, though?

"Anyway, back to what I was saying... think of a seeding you plant, yeah?" Katya said ad Sergei breathed in like a man who was trying so hard.

Well, to be fair, he really was.

Katya was not making it any easier for him, especially with the way he was so calm, and Sergei was reconsidering his sanity at the moment.

"I am not a farmer, Solnyshka."

"I didn’t say to go be a farmer, Vladimir. Focus."

"Alright, alright. I’ll think of a seedling," Sergei said as he pouted involuntarily, a sight that had Volkov, who was already waiting for him at the valet lane, staring like the man had lost his mind.

But then, when he opened the door, he just hoped to the gods that this day would end well.

"When you plant a seed, there are chances it might die, even if you nurture it right/ but it doesn’t mean farmers give up. They keep going anyway, despite the risks..."

"Solnyshka," Sergei breathed inside the car that had begun moving, and Volkov hit the brakes hard.

"Vladimir, what was that?" Katya’s concerned voice came from the other end.

"Nothing, just someone who doesn’t know how to cross roads without looking at traffic lights," Sergei dismissed and later breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, alright. We don’t want to get to the auction with damaged products," Katya teased, and Sergei laughed at that.

He actually laughed.

Volkov felt his heart swelling with happiness for the blind bat that was Katya Romanov.

Only Katya could get that sod out of his boss, and honestly, he was always slogging to be thankful for that.

"I assure you, Solnyshka, this product is in very good shape," Sergei added.

"That’s actually very good," Katya said, and Sergei smiled, making Volkov stare at him through the front mirror, wondering what it was that Katya was telling his boss this time.

Well, whatever it was, it was working because Sergei would have usually yelled at Volkov for being careless, but he was busy smiling and laughing.

That right there was progress.

"So, about the seeding theory," Sergei said.

"Yeah. Right. So, the farmer waits and watches as the seedlings sprout and grow into a whole plant, on most occasions. That is what you have been doing with the donations, even when you didn’t go.

"You planted the seedling of hope, of love in society. But you were too busy running away from it all to even stay and watch what was happening and how they bloomed. So today you are a good farmer, Vladimir.

"Not because you’re coming to the auction, but because no matter what happened, you didn’t stop being kind," Katya said, and Sergei’s breath held.

Katya Romanov would be his ruin.

He wasn’t even speculating anymore.

He was certain.

"Solnyshka," Sergei breathed like a prayer.

"You’ll be fine. Trust me. Besides, if you’re that scared of the auction, you can always find me in the crowd. I’ll always be there," Katya said before mumbling something about having to go.

And Sergei...

The alpha couldn’t breathe right.