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

Chapter 192: The Fog Beneath The Flames

[FROLO]

Sergei didn’t know what to say, so he just stood stiff in the middle of the office that smelled like his beloved. He could live here, no doubt, but at the same time, he didn’t want to creep Katya out.

He didn’t want to be the reason his Solnyshka ran from him. They had come too far to lose that along the way, and maybe that was also why Sergei was patient through it all.

"Won’t you sit?" Katya said, and Sergei moved to the nearest seat. He still had his package in his hands, holding it tightly like it was the one thing that he wasn’t about to lose.

"Did you read my note?" Katya asked with a smile, and Sergei’s brain short-circuited again.

The note.

Of course.

He had put it in his pocket in a hurry earlier, and he hadn’t even finished reading past the lunch reminder. Maybe that was why he stared at Katya guiltily, and Katya just smiled.

What the hell was the omega playing with him now?

"You can read it later," Katya said, and Sergei visibly relaxed.

"I... I didn’t get to thank you for coming to the auction. I know it wasn’t easy for you, but you helped raise a lot of money for the city," Katya said in earnest, his eyes holding Sergei’s as the alpha’s eyes shifted comfortably.

The discomfort of his embarrassment was gone, and Katya knew the moment the alpha changed. It was a tad fascinating how men like Sergei could change their facial expressions in an instant.

It was like they had an on and off switch for it all.

But then again, Katya had seen the same with the senator, so maybe it was just what they were all programmed into, right?

"Glad I could be of help," Sergei said quietly, looking at the man who had his heart.

"We raised two and a half billion," Katya added brightly, like that was the best thing that could have happened to the city.

And Sergei watched his Solnyshka be happy over the little things. Things that Sergei hadn’t paid much attention to.

"Is it that important to you?" Sergei asked in earnest, no spite in his voice, even as he tried to understand what Katya’s thought process on this was.

He had never paid attention to the city or whatever the fuck happened out there, really.

But he cared what Katya thought.

He always would.

"Children are the light... of a home. If I could make a few people happier, that would make me happy. That’s why I do it. Why I did it," Katya said as he took his seat before Sergei.

It was like they were just two normal people trying to talk about the most mundane of things. Only that they were important to Katya and Sergei would forever remember that.

Sergei didn’t pity Katya, no. He knew the omega was strong enough to handle delicate conversations that affected him directly and indirectly.

But as he sat there talking about many other things with Katya, Sergei made a mental note to donate more frequently to children’s centres.

For his Solnyshka.

And as the evening faded into better days, as the life came back to Moskowsky Holdings, another storm was brewing beyond the familiar walls.

But as long as it wasn’t here yet, everything would be okay, no?

First came the rumors over the following weeks.

Ones that held no traction.

Then the silent stalkers came, one after another, over the following months; ones who Sergei eliminated before they could ever get to show what they had.

The Moskowsky penthouse was slowly filling with cameras for dead journos. SD cards from paparazzi cameras.

But then it was only a matter of time before the questions arose.

A matter of time before everything was pushed to the front. Because where there was smoke, there was bound to be a fire.

Where there was fire, someone was bound to be burnt. And if that fire came from the highest man in the Moskowsky holdings, then it was bound to be true, right?

"Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Moskowsky," Sierra said as the business segment of the morning ended.

Everyone had been listening keenly as Sergei talked about business and the changes in the nation’s economy at the moment.

They talked about how things had gotten a little harder over the last two years. How the company had improved since Katya Romanov had been installed as the new chairman two years ago.

It was bound, and Sergei had answered them all well. Not rehearsed because he was Sergei Moskowsky. He didn’t need to rehearse anything. And when it came to his Solnyshka, there was no truth that Sergei would hide.

Well, one.

But they didn’t need to know that, right?

"Before we close the segment, we have a few questions that are not business related, Mr. Moskowsky... Would you be open to answering them?" Sierra asked carefully.

Maybe because the man she was talking to could slap her head off on TV and have no regrets about it.

Maybe because after everything, the city was slowly learning and leaning into something else.

"Of course. What is it?" Sergei asked flatly, not even bothering to smile at her.

"There have been speculations going around for the past six months... About you and your former son-in-law," Sierra asked, and Sergei’s face didn’t change.

It was like this was nothing to him.

But deep down, he was curious if something had changed between him and Katya. It had been two years since the hospital contract, and everything was going well.

Katya’s relationship with Alek was blooming too, and they looked happy. Of course, they wouldn’t be happy if they knew that Sergei was stalking Katya on the nights that Alek didn’t come over.

That Sergei still sniffed Katya in the night like a hungry beast.

That Sergei was slowly losing control when it came to Katya, and people were starting to notice.

That couldn’t be what Sierra wanted to ask, right?

"Go on," Sergei said, his voice still neutral and unfazed.

"Some people say you’ve been having daily lunches with him for months now despite you and him having no bindings with family," Sierra said, like that was supposed to make Sergei talk.

"I don’t hear a question, Sierra," Sergei said, looking into her eyes as if daring her to ask him something stupid.

"It is not exactly a question, Mr. Moskowsky, but it does seem like the two of you are closer than before," Sierra stated, and Sergei sighed.

"Mr. Romanov is the Moskowsky group Chairman, Sierra."

"But you seem closer than a chairman and his boss. That is what the public is noticing. We reached out to the senator on that more than once, but he’s never said anything," Sierra stated, like that was supposed to work.

"My employees’ personal lives are not my business," Sergei said, lying through his teeth like he didn’t want to run to Katya’s office after this, given it was already morning and Katya was most definitely at work.

Well, technically it wasn’t.

Just Katya’s anyway.

"Alright. Thank you for clarifying," Sierra said before turning to the cameras.

"There you have it, folks. The relationship between Mr. Moskowsky and Mr. Romanov is purely professional!"

It was a general conclusion, maybe because she loved her life, or maybe because there wasn’t much to press on with.

But across the nation, in two separate households, doubt had taken root for the first time in so long.

And it was an ugly thing that was threatening to bloom.