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

[KATYA]

Svetlana and Andre shared a look.

One that communicated familiarity with the situation.

They wouldn’t ask any further. It was that simple. Because they had been around Katya long enough to know that when he didn’t want to share something, there was nothing they could do about it.

Besides, if it was important...

He would tell them.

He always did.

And Svetlana, having known what the situation looked like, began talking about what had happened.

"I threatened to kill him with his people watching. Oh, it was an awesome experience," Svet said as they tried to drag Katya out of the bed to the dining room.

They knew he hadn’t been eating, and this time he didn’t have an excuse that he could use to say he had taken lunch somewhere or that he had eaten before he had come home.

Was this even home for him?

At the same time, Katya’s starving himself was not going to make his condition any better.

"You what?" Katya asked, like his brain was finally catching up with what Svetlana had just said.

And Gods, was he stressed for her.

"That bastard Moskowsky. He now knows you are not alone, plus I threatened to take you away from him if he tried to pull shit with you again.

"All in all, if these people treat you wrongly, I’m only a text away, my sweet friend," Svet said ever so casually.

She had crossed so many lines today.

She knew it.

Katya knew it.

Andre knew it.

But she was not afraid, and it was evident in the way she was laughing about it like she had just done a favor to society at large.

Maybe she had finally undone the fear button that had been in the city for so long because of the Moskowskys, or maybe she had just dug herself a deeper grave, not that Svetlana cared that much about it.

"Svet?!" Katya screeched, looking at her.

He was trying to figure out what to say to her. But what else was there to say? She had made a promise; she had stayed true to her belief, and if ever there would be consequences, she had been so ready to deal with them.

It didn’t matter if it cost her everything, as long as Katya was not on the receiving end this time.

But was that how shit worked with the mad house, they were all outta the moment, or was it the one gamble that couldn’t even save their lives if they wanted it all?

"What? It’s not like he was going to ever tell me that truth anyway. I thought he was just going to tell me like, get it off here if you wanna save your life," Svet said.

The way she was talking, it was as if she was talking about her boxing friends, or even her workmates, and not the most dangerous man enrolled.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Svet continued, and Katya stared, like this, this was not the right way to live with his fine.

They were definitely going to be annihilated even before they reached their eyes, and they would not have the chance to breathe right or even try to make it through life.

Why the hell had they gotten her in the first place?

"But you know what he did? He hunched over like he was hurt or something, like he was trying to control himself from showing emotions instead of being the barbarian he has been to everyone all this time.

"If I didn’t know him any better, I’d even say he was crying," Svet mocked, the visuals of how Sergei had been made even angrier. She looked like she was never going to forgive, and honestly, that was understandable.

But there was something about what she had said that had Katya stunned.

Frozen in time like this wasn’t what he was expecting.

It didn’t help that there had been one particular call that had Katya still questioning everything that he believed in.

"Anya... it hurts."

Katya’s mind couldn’t help but return to that moment, and fuck, it was insane, stupid, and everything Katya could ever think of.

Because Moskowsky’s were manipulative and ruthless.

They never cared about anything other than their own.

They never bothered to make lives easier because at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered to them was their empire, their reputation, which Sergei may have tanked, or the man just didn’t give two shits about it anymore.

"What?" the omega asked like he was trying to process a thousand and one tabs in his head at the same time, but somehow was stuck on the one that would never truly make any sense for him.

"He wasn’t, don’t bother. Man was probably just trying to act like he was feeling too much for everyone to pity him," Andre added boredly.

And he was right.

At least on the front that everyone saw.

Sergei was a chess player.

He knew what pieces to move across the board and which ones not to move.

He knew what to push and what to push, and frankly, that was how he had played the most powerful, dangerous man in the city that had feared him for over thirty years.

Katya understood that insanity so well, but damn, what the fuck was that call?

"I agree with Andre. Besides that darn devil of Frolo, I doubt if he even has emotions," Svet added mockingly.

Sergei never showed emotions. Ever.

So, it was impossible that the time he was publicly questioned about his son-in-law, he was suddenly an emotional wreck, and that too with the cameras in his face.

Even though it was that crazy, Katya believed them.

It was the only way to shut his mind up.

It was the only way to force his brain to stop circling back, because there was no telling what tomorrow would be like for him if he stayed stuck on a fantasy, an illusion that would never benefit him.

An illusion for the man known for his cruelty and for doing whatever it took to get what he wanted. Hell, the man had saved Katya just to make him a prisoner in his dark residence.

There was no limit to how far Sergei would go.

Katya was slowly learning.

More like confirming.

But damn.

"You really went to Moskowsky Group? Do you not love your life?" Katya scolded as he grabbed a pillow and began hitting Svet with it.

It was bad enough that Anya had threatened to kill the man, but going after him in broad daylight with everyone watching was pure insanity. Because Sergei would definitely not take chances with anyone who didn’t stroke his ego.

Which meant that Svetlana was officially a Moskowsky target.

Fuck, Katya had always known that the day would come, but it wasn’t supposed to be this soon, not when I had just come back. But what difference would it make?

"What are you hitting me with? Someone needed to get him not to hide you forever, you know!" Svet screeched, defending her actions as if what she had done was so casual.

Maybe it was.

To her.

"You said she was going to find Yaroslav, not go have a face-to-face fight with the devil himself!" Katya scolded, before he turned to Andre, who raised his hands in surrender, as if trying to tell him that he was no part of it.

But even that was a lie.

Katya’s friend always shared a single brain cell most of the time.

"She choked Yaroslav and snapped his neck twice. Goodness, that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen on live television!" Andre said excitedly, like that was normal

"On WHAT?"