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

[KATYA]

That week, the office was unbearable.

Everyone was talking about Irina and Sergei. It was almost like that was what they had come to work for, and it was pissing Katya off.

However, if anyone would ever be courageous enough to ask the Moskowsky group chairman why he was so pissy lately, he couldn’t even find the right words.

Because rationally, there were no words to describe what he was doing.

It was all irrational.

Petty even.

Yet it didn’t make it any easier to get through the week.

As if it wasn’t bad enough at the office, the entire city was exploding with banners and billboards of the "most precious relationship" in the city’s history.

The relationship that would heal the city; that was what many had called it.

Others had even gone as far as saying that Irina and Sergei looked so good together.

And that morning, Katya had burned himself with his hot water flask. He had been closing the lid, preparing to go to work, when the TV focused on the way Sergei and Irina were perfect for each other.

They didn’t even have to show Sergei for Katya to be bothered again.

And Katya...

He dropped the flask unintentionally. Gritting his teeth when the pain snapped him to his truths.

But that wasn’t all.

Because his friends, the same friends who despised Sergei Moskowsky, were a little too excited for the announcement. You would think that a lottery had been won.

"Finally, the man is moving on!"

"You’re truly free now, Romanov."

"With everything you’ve said so far about the things at the office and around you, I’m happy that the bastard devil doesn’t bother you anymore."

"Does that mean we postpone our murder plans for him?"

"Absolutely not. I promised to kill them both. The father and son for what they did to Romanov. Just because he’s moving on publicly doesn’t mean our friend is still not tied to the damn contracts."

Katya should have been happy about the new developments. Because this was reinforcing what Sergei had told him months ago.

Surely it wasn’t this hard for him to understand the concept of freedom, right?

Still, it wasn’t easy for Katya.

For the whole week, their group chat was all just Sergei, Irina, Sergei, and Irina. The barbarian and his new catch.

Even worse, the possibility that Yaroslav had really accepted them both.

It was one thing for Katya to assume that Irina was Yaroslav’s new mistress, but to think that he had misinterpreted that shit bothered him to the core.

Maybe because a part of him always knew his husband was a cheater.

But still, it was hard. Gods, it was exhausting to be living in the current timeline.

Oh, but the endless times Katya had almost left the group chat couldn’t be counted on one hand, even in a span of ten minutes.

The worst part of it all was the trip.

It was not even coming any closer.

Katya had sent the email three days ago.

He still had three days to wait till the trip began.

It would be on a Tuesday, which meant that Katya only had two days of not hearing about the Irina-Sergei relationship, only to be thrust back into it on the first day of the week before the trip.

But until then, walking through a sea of everyone who was approving the Sergei-Irina relationship was sickening.

That evening, like clockwork, the flowers from Aleksandr came. Along with the call to confirm, still hoping for a coffee date.

Yet Katya’s response had remained the same, six months on.

Too stumped with work to think of anything at the moment.

He really didn’t know what else to do.

Home was unbearable because of the emptiness.

The city was suffocating him with all the news of the relationship.

So as always, Katya sank his head into work. Because at least with work, he would be focused on everything but the relationship the city wasn’t even shutting up about.

And it worked.

So much so that he had chosen to rest his head in the office. After all, his new office had everything he needed. Privacy, clothing, a washroom, and a coffee maker.

He could simply work late, wake up in the morning, take a shower, and change his clothes like it was nothing. Like he had simply come to work that day.

No one needed to know that the Moskowsky group chairman hadn’t gone home in four days.

No one, save for his staff back home.

Not even Rahim.

Wednesday went smoothly for him.

Thursday passed easily.

Friday night was bound to be just another day working late.

Katya had already cancelled the Friday karaoke plans with his friends. They offered to come to his home and have fun there, but Katya had insisted that he had some work to do.

It was not that hard for them to understand, thankfully, because other than being the oppressed contract husband of the devil of Frolo, Katya Romanov was a known workaholic.

It was no secret.

The hours passed by like that, always did in the night when he worked late.

Then the clock struck 2 am.

And Katya figured that he could go home, because the next day was a Saturday. A weekend.

And like a force of habit, he stepped out to check if the windows were closed, if everything was alright. He knew the guards always did that job, but it didn’t hurt to check one more time, right?

Casually, he called around the office doing his checks until the elevator dinged.

It was surprising for Katya because two o’clock in the office meant that everyone was gone. Especially on. Friday night. Only the guard knew he was in, and even they had long learned to leave him to his work.

So, Katya didn’t understand why the private elevator dinged, for that matter.

Of course, he went to check.

But two voices had him pausing before he could even move forward.

"There’s a light on in that office. Do you usually overwork your employees?" a female voice asked.

And the response...

Oh, Katya.

It was a laugh.

A light laugh.

One that Katya hadn’t heard in nearly six months.

And Katya was somewhat glad that he had masked his scent every day since the last time he had seen the barbarian.

"I don’t overwork my employees," he said, amusedly, the happiness in his voice something that even Katya could never bring himself to imagine as real.

"Oh, yeah? Then why is that office still having a light on?" the woman teased, and Katya felt his chest ache.

It wasn’t normal.

He was a healthy man.

So, what the fuck was this?

"I told you, sweetheart... But come, let’s go check it out," he said casually, amusedly, right as Katya choked on air. Or was it the emotions that had him whimpering suddenly in disbelief like a caught partner?

"Chairman Katya?" he asked.

Before he could reach the office.

Hell, Katya’s scent was still masked as always.

In fact, he asked right as he turned the first corner office, the one that absolutely did not lead to Katya’s office.

And Katya...