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

[FROLO]

Katya was tired.

Everything was just moving in opposite directions, and he didn’t have the strength to fight anymore. So when he stepped out of the guest room, he walked to his bedroom.

His friends tried to talk to him, but he just shook his head, walking past them with defeated eyes. He couldn’t believe this was what they had been reduced to, after everything.

And when he got to his room, he locked the door.

Oh, but he’d never felt that empty before.

Leaning against the door, Katya stared at his bed. He hadn’t slept properly in a week, and he needed to rest. But how could he ever do that peacefully without being consumed by the thoughts of the past few weeks?

He needed everything to stop, so he slid down the door and lay on the floor, right beside it.

It was cold.

Way colder than the bed.

But it was distracting enough to keep him steady.

He then stared at his phone, the endless missed calls he’d gotten from the press and the Moskowskys. He knew they were worried, while the press wanted to get what they wanted from him.

The texts were almost the same.

Anya said he had reporters waiting at the Moskowsky Group entrance.

Volkov said they had been called by people who wanted information on the senator.

Rahim reported endless calls to the research and development team asking where Katya was and if he could give a statement. Everyone wanted an answer from Katya about the senator.

Sergei, on the other hand, hadn’t texted or called since last night.

Katya knew he was giving him space, and that hurt. Not because Sergei was giving him space, but because Sergei, the man everyone believed had no idea what humanity looked like, was always so understanding.

It was a stark contrast to Alek, and Katya even hated himself for the comparison.

But he couldn’t help it.

There was no easy way out of this.

He then logged into social media and saw how people were live-streaming outside his building. There were some at Moskowsky, while some were in news houses speculating what Katya had done for the senator to come back injured.

They even had footage of people carrying the senator into Katya’s home. It was strange and didn’t make sense. But they had already made their peace with the fact that all signs pointed to Sergei.

Sergei.

How was he doing now?

The media were still adamant with their accusations of the one man who had been innocent this whole time. They were ruining the life of the one man who didn’t have anything to do with Alek.

It was even funny how no one in the city would ever believe that Alek had walked himself to the Kumarin Bratva because he wanted to compete fairly with Sergei. It was insane and stupid, and it pissed Katya off even more.

And Katya stared at his phone again, like he didn’t know what to do.

Honestly, this was the first time he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to hear his friends tell him that things would be alright. He didn’t want Aleksandr’s explanation. He didn’t even feel like going to work or getting out of this room.

So he dialed the only contact that made sense.

By the time he considered hanging up, Sergei had long picked up his call.

Thirty seconds had passed.

"Vladimir," Katya said, his voice low and desperate like he needed a distraction fast.

"Solnyshka..."

"Tell me something," Katya said, crawling deeper into his room before putting the phone on loudspeaker mode. He was still on the floor, like it was the only place that felt a bit better than anything that had been happening all day.

"About what?" Sergei asked in earnest.

"Anything," Katya breathed, sleeping on his side as he drew lazy circles on the floor.

"Promise me you won’t laugh at me," Sergei said after a long silence.

"What did you not do?" Katya asked lightly.

"Promise, Solnyshka."

"Fine... I promise."

"Okay, you promised. Remember that..."

"..."

"I went on a morning run early this morning because Anya insisted we go together in the western park. I even slowed down for her..." Sergei began.

"Okay..."

"Then she sees this park security guard and starts screaming that I was abandoning her."

"What?"

"She told him she had dementia," he said, and Katya let out a soft chuckle.

"You promised."

"I’m listening."

"You’re laughing."

"Tell me more."

"The officer asked if I knew her."

"And?"

"I said she raised me, then he asked if I was her son."

"Vladimir..."

"I wasn’t going to lie," Sergei defended, and Katya held back a snort.

"That’s not even the worst part. Anya convinced me to wear a balaclava because she didn’t want me stealing attention from her... it was her idea... her idea.

"Then she sees the park officer and turns it on me," Sergei said, sounding even more betrayed, and Katya let out a low sound.

"You’re laughing."

"I’m listening."

"Next thing I know, I’m handcuffed, at four in the morning."

"Handcuffed?" Katya asked, pausing his little doodles on the floor.

"Apparently, for being suspiciously an irresponsible son."

"..."

"But I escaped," Sergei said proudly, and Katya snorted lowly.

"Solnyshka..."

"I’m not... I’m listening," Katya held back a laugh before adding, "How?"

"With my ring..."

"Vladimir..."

"What?"

"You wore exactly what a suspicious person would wear."

"He should have listened to me instead of separating me from the woman who ended up stealing his whistle and getting us banned from the park!" Sergei said like it was the ultimate betrayal for him, and Katya nearly lost it.

"Why... why did you get banned?"

"Because Anya told them this wasn’t the first time I’d tried abandoning her in the park," Sergei said, still betrayed.

Katya finally gave up and burst into laughter.

"I still think she’s exaggerating," Sergei sighed.

"Vladimir..."

"She made me breakfast afterwards," Sergei said calmly before adding, "Then she said we’d start running on the other side of the city."

"That’s a good thing, right?"

"We’re blacklisted from every public park now."

"Seriously?" Katya laughed harder.

"They even put my description on the notice board."

"..."

"They got my height wrong," Sergei said, and Katya held back a laugh.

"And my age," he continued.

"..."

"They said I was sixty," Sergei grumbled, and Katya couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

"Aren’t y—"

"I’m fifty-two!"

Katya couldn’t hold it in anymore. He laughed his heart out, happy tears spilling down his face as he clutched his stomach. It hurt. Gods, it hurt, but he couldn’t stop.

Meanwhile, Sergei was still complaining.

"I’m thinking of sneaking back into the park tonight."

Katya tried to answer, but another rant cut him off.

"I’ll correct the notice myself," Sergei continued matter-of-factly. "People deserve accurate information."

"Vladimir..." Katya said amid laughter.

"What?"

"Leave the notice board alone."

"But it’s misinformation."

"You could be arrested again," Katya said, and the alpha went quiet for a moment.

"I’ll go with Volkov," he said, and Katya paused, confused, only for Sergei to hit him with:

"...for support and evidence."

The alpha sounded confident, and Katya couldn’t help but laugh his heart out at his determination.