[KATYA]

"Here they are!"

"Chairman Gamov has arrived!"

"Chairman, is it true that you love Senator Aleksandr?"

"Chairman, what of the baby Milan is carrying?"

"Katya Romanov is here!"

"Was what you said Saturday night your final verdict?"

"Are you cheating back on CEO Gamov now that he has a baby with Milan?"

"Are you formally divorced?"

"CEO Gamov said divorces are not allowed in the Moskowsky household. Does that mean you will stay with him?"

"Chairman, why did you come with Mr. Moskowsky?"

Katya had heard of media hell.

He had watched so many people be ambushed about it because of their scandals, and he had felt terrible for the victims.

Because no one deserved to be harassed for the way they lived their lives. That was the philosophy Katya lived by. Yet now, he was not even out of the car, but he was already a subject.

And suddenly it all made sense.

Sergei driving.

Sergei not letting him go.

Sergei going too slow for a man who valued punctuality in business.

Sergei insisting on breakfast.

Sergei asking if Katya trusted him.

The billboards across the city only showing Romanov steel ads.

It all made sense, save for the questions being sent in his direction.

What did they mean by Milan having a baby?

What happened on Saturday night?

Why did Katya not remember?

"Vladimir..." Katya struggled to breathe as he looked at Sergei.

The camera flashes from outside the car were too much for Katya to process, and their worlds held too much venom for Katya to be familiar with.

"Trust me," Sergei said, his voice stern, like he was not giving Katya room to think. To negotiate whatever this was. He looked like he had known what had happened, and Katya felt his heart sink into his stomach.

Maybe Saturday was the reason he didn’t have his phone.

The reason his friends hadn’t come by.

It was weird. But it was slowly making sense.

"What happened?" Katya asked, horrified.

"I’ll open my door, and then open yours. But keep your focus on me. Not on what they’re saying. Can you do that, Solnyshka?" Sergei asked, but Katya couldn’t think.

He had heard snippets.

Milan. Baby. Yaroslav.

Did Milan have Yaro’s baby?

"No way. That can’t be true," Katya laughed in disbelief, like it had to be a farce. Surely that was the only way aloof this made sense.

He spent Friday with Yaroslav.

He had slept in their matrimonial home.

They had slept together.

There was just no way that this was real.

"She can’t seriously be having his baby. It’s... It can’t be true... he loves me. He said he loved me on Friday. He was honest. People don’t just change.

"There is no way," Katya rambled as he looked at the reporters who were flashing their lights on him.

Katya had noticed that none of the cameras were on Sergei, and for a moment, he wished he were Sergei. Because these people had to have known that Sergei wouldn’t hesitate to step on the gas and ruin their lives.

He was the devil of Frolo after all. But then again, this was not real. There was no way what he was hearing was true. It had to be a rumor. But then most of the things that had happened made no sense.

"Dial 334 if you need help out there," Anya had said. Hell, she had insisted that Katya remember the dial. She had made it seem like that as the only thing that mattered for the whole day.

But damn, this was something else altogether.

Yaroslavl cheating and getting known by the entire country was one thing.

Yaroslav and Milan having a baby?

Katya refused to believe that.

"Hey. Focus. Okay?" Sergei said, snapping his fingers in front of Katya’s eyes, but the omega was still lost in his thoughts.

"Romanov!" Sergei bellowed, and Katya stiffened for a moment.

Sergei never called him Romanov.

Never.

Katya turned to look at the alpha who had just used his surname, like this was all the confirmation he needed. And the fact that Sergei’s face was back to the blank, cold face that everyone in Frolo one of didn’t make it any better.

This felt like he had been invited to his own requiem, and gods, did it hurt.

"Oh my god... I’m really gonna die this time," Katya said as he looked between the alpha and the cameras that didn’t stop even as he tried to gather his thoughts.

But what was left to get her when he had really woken up to a storm he didn’t even remember?

"You signed a Moskowsky contract, Solnyshka," Sergei said, like that was supposed to mean anything to Katya right now. His life was ending, and his jailer was reminding him of the terms and conditions.

What the fuck was wrong with everyone in this family?

"Great. I get to die while in a contract. Just great," Katya rambled, and Sergei sighed.

The alpha then stepped out of the car. Walked to Katya’s side and opened the door for the omega.

It was a gesture so simple, but one that was enough to have the media and reporters stumbling back a bit.

Especially when Sergei held Katya’s hand and helped him out.

"Chairman, did you go for your father-in-law now that your husband had a child with another woman?" one of the reporters asked.

Sergei dropped Katya’s hand instinctively like he had just been punched in the gut with no one to come and help him out of this.

"Say that again. I dare you," Sergei said, a smirk on his face like he was enjoying this.

The reporters who had gotten close stepped back a few feet, like the sight of Sergei Moskowsky was enough to drive them into insanity.

Maybe.

Or this was just the one unexpected reaction for the alpha that everyone was seeing.

"It’s just an honest question, Mr. Moskowsky. Your son has a child with another person. His husband hasn’t given him a child for five years.

"It is only understandable that CEO Gamov went looking elsew—" the reporter from before said only for Sergei to punch him, hard on the jaw, his equipment falling to the side.

The silence that followed was uneasy, the kind that had people staring even more.

And Katya...

He couldn’t stay there.

So, the omega shifted to the driver’s seat and drove through the Moskowsky gates.

He had work to do.

He didn’t want to think of anything other than work.

He could think of what the reporters were saying.

Because Yaroslav may have cheated, but to have a baby with Milan? That was too cruel. It reminded Katya of the anniversary day when Milan had taunted him. When Yaroslav had mocked him while his ex fucked herself on him.

Katya refused to lean into that truth.

He couldn’t.

Yaroslav wasn’t that selfish.

Those had just been words on their anniversary.

Maybe he had done something to earn that pain from Yaro back then. And Yaroslav had chosen to hurt him where it hurt the most.

A baby?

When he lost his baby because of those two?

Katya refused to accept that.

He couldn’t.

Only when he stopped at the entrance of the Moskowsky building, Yaroslav and Milan were already there.

Smiling.

Happy.

And Milan...

Had a swollen belly.

"Four months."

Katya blinked.

"What?"

"She’s four months pregnant," Yaroslav said.

Milan smiled softly.

"I’m four months pregnant, Kathy."

Yaroslav simply kissed Milan on the lips.

And a bitter memory surfaced in Katya’s head.