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

[YAROSLAV]

Yaroslav was spiraling.

He had tried to stay calm, to think, but what was there to think about? He had spent weeks looking for his father, trying to gauge where the great Sergei Moskowsky had been.

He had thought his father had been snatched, but there was no ransom demand, not to mention Sergei Moskowsky wasn’t the kind of man to pick on the streets or even anywhere.

That man was worse than the devil.

Yet as Yaroslav stood there in his home, with Milan around, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t understand, honestly.

Nothing made sense because this wasn’t some punishment. This was his father disappearing for three weeks, then showing back like nothing had happened.

"Has he called you yet?" Milan asked quietly, knowing just how attached Yaro was to his father. Then again, that man was the only family he had left after the passing of his dad.

The fact that Anya hadn’t even called him to let him know his father was back was even more unsettling.

It was bad enough that Yaroslav hadn’t seen Katya for weeks, but at least with Katya, he knew the man was working at the company.

Even if they didn’t see each other for two weeks, Yaroslav was sure Katya was working at the Moskowsky group. It was just the only place for him.

As for the distance between him and his husband, Yaroslav figured Katya needed time to cope with what Yaro had done.

It was also good because Yaro was still struggling with the right apology, especially now that he had fully healed from the bullet wounds his father had given him, and his ear was not about to fall off anymore. He would fix things with Katya later.

The more pressing thing right now was the retry of Sergei.

"Yaro... did you even hear what I said?" Milan asked when she didn’t get an answer from the man for about five minutes.

But then again, she understood how this was for Yaroslav. She had seen him work in hindsight with many people just to know the last whereabouts of his father. He had nothing, but he hadn’t stopped.

Sure, he had asked Anya first, but Anya had told him that Sergei hadn’t left a word this time.

It was true because they both knew his father well.

Yaroslav had no reason to doubt Anya, not when it came to matters pertaining to Sergei.

"Uh? No, he didn’t call. He’s probably too busy with everything happening," Yaroslav defended as he stared at the headlines.

The city was reacting as expected to his father’s return.

Fear. Worry. Chaos.

Sighing, Yaroslav dialed Anya. It was one thing for the media to have their rumors, but if Anya confirmed it, then Yaroslav would know. Maybe this time it wouldn’t be as hard.

"Anya... Father..." Yaroslav trailed off like he didn’t even need to finish his sentence for the woman to understand him.

"Yes, Yaro. He is back. Only just got the news too. I’m still having some commitments and will not be at the company today," Anya said before the line went dead.

And Yaroslav stood there like that was the one thing he wasn’t sure how to handle. But at the same time, he was reminding himself that he was an adult now. That his father could choose to disappear and come back without communicating.

It was a dangerous position, but then this was Sergei.

"Looks like the devil of Frolo is back, Yaro. You can ask him the questions you wanted to ask for so long," Milan said, her soft nudge something that had Yaroslav thinking.

At the same time, Milan was still sprawled in the guest room of Katya’s matrimonial home. Yaroslav had brought her to this particular room for good reason.

She was NOT Katya.

While they had their escapades and sexcapades in almost every room in the house, the master bedroom had been off limits for their interactions.

Almost like Yaroslav was protecting something...

Someone?

Yaroslav had refused to fuck Milan in the same bed as his omega. He had not given her good reasons, and Milan had kept asking why he wouldn’t let her even close to that room.

Anyone would think that Yaroslav was hiding some serious trade secrets there. Because each time Milan asked, the answers were the same.

Every single time.

"We have to get rid of Katya first. Unless you want to drown in the stench of his citrus scent, be my guest. But remember, we have been sleeping on that bed for over seven years," Yaroslav had told her once, so casually, as if it were the only reason.

Milan had stayed disgusted for weeks. Like she couldn’t even bring herself to imagine sleeping in the same bed as Katya Gamov.

And just like that, she never asked to be in that bed again. She was strangely content with being on the guest side of the house, perhaps because she believed that with time, the transition would be welcomed.

"Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital? Or did you stop being a nurse because Katya is finally starting to be easy to get rid of?" Yaroslav asked passively as he stared at the screen.

This time, he was not going to sit and watch as everyone got to see his father first. He needed answers, and he was going to get them.

Granted, the few weeks his entry into Moskowsky holdings had been denied more than once, he wasn’t about to give up.

After all, his father was back, and his father owned that shit, which meant that Yaroslav was the heir apparent. It was something that he reminded himself of each time.

"I took an administrative leave for a month. You had a nipped ear, remember? Besides, taking care of you was the best thing that ever happened to me," Milan said sheepishly, like she truly believed what she was saying.

Like taking a leave for someone who didn’t even let her in his master bedroom was something that she was determined to change.

And maybe it was just what she believed.

After all, Katya hadn’t come home in three weeks. Katya hadn’t shown his face here, and damn, this place was huge and beautiful.

Milan had been there for those three weeks, and she wasn’t even done exploring it yet. She had tried the master bedroom once, but that place was locked, and it had an alarm attached to it, not to mention cameras that faced that door.

It was weird how Yaroslav had caught the alarm on his phone and rushed home in the middle of a meeting just to make sure Milan didn’t go in there.

"Sorry, I was just curious," Milan had apologized with tears in her eyes.

And Yaroslav...

"You try accessing that room again, and you will forget about me. Forever," Yaroslav had seethed.

Milan apologized and swore she wouldn’t do it again. Then turned her attention to the rest of the house. It was large and had servants at her beck and call.

It had the scent of Yaroslav all over, though Katya’s scent was also dominant.

But Milan had always told herself that she would make the changes once she was the lady of the house. She had fumbled Yaroslav once and she was not going to do it again.

Even if it meant taking a leave from work for an entire month.

"Fine, you do you," Yaroslav said casually.

Then he left.

Without kissing Milan goodbye or even telling her where he was going.

But it was obvious where his destination was.

Moskowsky Holdings.