[FROLO]

Katya could feel the intensity of the burn on his thighs, but he didn’t even make a move to get up and clean himself.

He just sat there.

Maybe because the burn of coffee was a distracting feeling from the reality he had been thrust into by his beloved, and he wanted to stay in that limbo a little longer. Even when he could feel the bruising forming already.

But would it make his heart ache any less?

Would it make the baby bump he had seen disappear and his family whole again?

Katya didn’t know what to think.

Not anymore.

Yet even then, he was still determined to work.

Because at least work was making his life easier.

Easier than the chaos right out his window.

Easier than the shouts that reminded him of the worst of betrayals.

"Sir... Are you alright, sir?" Rahim asked, and Katya didn’t even pay her any attention.

He just kept staring at the page before him, like suddenly the Moskowsky quarterly reports were the most interesting of things. Like the numbers were not conforming to the smug look Yaroslav had given him out there.

Like he was still in the dark about what had gone down on Saturday night.

Oh, Katya.

Rahim cleaned up the mess as fast as she could, determined to restore normalcy. But then what was that normal again?

What was it supposed to look like to a man who had been forced into a marriage and a man whose husband had been cheating on him for years, and finally had the evidence displayed to the entire society to see?

"Sir, may I suggest a change of clothes?" Rahim asked, but Katya still didn’t look in her direction or show any signs that he was paying attention to what she was saying.

His eyes stayed on the page, and Rahim figured maybe he would change when they headed to the meeting.

Quietly, she excused herself to her desk, watching quietly as the omega stayed stiff, unmoving, as if he was trying to pause time.

Maybe if he did it would work, no?

Outside, the commotion had grown even worse after Sergei punched the reporter, especially since they knew Yaroslav and Milan were in there.

They were terrified of Sergei, no doubt, but they wanted to get as much information as they could before the devil of Frolo kicked them out. It was unavoidable at this point anyway.

Sergei watched as they ran into the compound like vultures, determined to make the best of what they had at the moment, and he was pissed.

Sighing, he dialed Rahim.

"What’s happening up there?" Sergei asked coldly.

"He’s not moving, sir. Spilled hot coffee on himself and didn’t even flinch at the burn. I think... I think he is hurting," Rahim said, careful not to piss off the one man who could order her into traffic, and she wouldn’t even have the choice to say no.

Sergei sighed on the other end of the phone before wordlessly hanging up.

He hated what was happening.

He despised the fact that Yaroslav had come with Milan to the company. It was not right on any scale.

Granted, Sergei had always wanted the omega for himself.

Just not at this cost.

Not when the entire county knew what Katya didn’t know. Not when the humiliation boomed in every passing second. This was not how he had wanted it, and he could already see himself strangling his son.

Yet at the same time, he couldn’t do much without attracting unnecessary attention.

And maybe, just maybe, for the first time in a while, Sergei hated that he was Sergei Moskowsky.

"CEO Gamov, is the baby Milan is carrying yours?"

"What does this mean for your marriage to the chairman?"

"Is this the end of the road for the chairman?"

"You mentioned no divorce over the weekend. Does that still stand?"

"Did you really choose Milan because she could give you what Chairman Gamov wasn’t able to?"

"Is your marriage open?"

He had put himself in an impossible situation, but not because he had to choose between his son and Katya. That had never really been a question. He already knew what the answer would be.

The cost of it all, however, was too high; too many variables.

Yaroslav was still standing with Milan, enjoying the attention, when he saw his father and stiffened.

Sergei hated work disruptions.

Sergei despised unnecessary attention.

Sergei had warned him against any more unnecessary scandals on Friday.

Yet here Yaroslav was.

With the greatest scandal of the month.

"Father..." Yaroslav mouthed as he watched his father come closer. He knew he was in trouble; there was no denying that. But then he also had his reasons.

He knew that the media would never let things be, and he wanted to give Katya a child.

Showing Milan pregnant was the only way that Yaroslav could think of that didn’t involve Katya being forced to do anything.

They could simply wait out the pregnancy.

Just five more months, and their family would be whole again.

It was really a simple logic for Yaroslav, because the only thing he cared about was Katya’s happiness. And if the road to get there wasn’t as pretty, Yaroslav would only hope that Katya eventually understood.

"Good morning, son," Sergei greeted coldly, the disappointment in his cold tone something that Yaroslav had gotten familiar with these past few weeks, and the beta hated it.

He had always been his father’s pride, but to be fair, his actions lately left nothing for the barbarian to be proud of. Surely Yaroslav knew that too, no?

"CEO Gamov, did your father approve of the affair?" one reporter asked, and Yaroslav froze.

It was interesting before, with all the attention and determination to make Katya happy.

But the mention of his father in the affair was something else altogether.

"Go on, son. Tell them," Sergei coaxed.

Yaroslav felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face.

Milan, who had been standing beside him, stayed close, almost like she knew that

Sergei wasn’t opposed to killing the child she was carrying if he deemed it annoying. After all, Sergei was the monster monsters were terrified of, and there wasn’t a thing that could be put past him and his cruelty.

"I..." Yaroslav tried, even though he knew there wasn’t a thing that he could say to make this go away. He had let the scandal marinate and explode.

And with his father here, Yaroslav was fucked.

"Milan," Sergei spoke.

Milan peeked from behind Yaroslav like this was her chance to breathe or die. The latter sounded a little more obvious to her because Sergei...

Well... he was Sergei.

"Sir," Milan said shakily as the cameras flashed on her.

If Sergei were a normal person, he would care about PR, but Sergei wasn’t normal, and he definitely wasn’t past murder in front of the whole world.

Milan knew it.

She had watched the man kill on live feed once.

"Be a darling and tell them how long you’ve been fucking my son so they can get out and let Yaroslav go to work. We have a board meeting with the chairman in twenty minutes," Sergei said casually, like he was talking about the weather.

Milan froze.

Yaroslav stared at his father, horrified.

But Sergei just stared at them blankly like he was not here to pay attention to whatever his son was doing in his free time; he really didn’t care, as long as Yaroslav was healthy and alright.

Everything else was past time, right?

Katya too?

Oh, Sergei.

"The truth, since I don’t want this surfacing ever again after today," Sergei added boredly.

"Sir..." Milan began, horrified.

She knew that this was one that even Yaroslav wouldn’t be able to save her from. And it was haunting because this man had threatened her last week and the week before, and she hadn’t breathed a word of the details to Yaroslav yet.

And even if she did, would there be a difference?

"Anytime now, Milan," Sergei said, checking his watch, like he really didn’t have time for this bullshit.

"T... Ten years, sir," Milan said.

Sergei’s expression didn’t change.

And the cameras began flashing fast.

This was huge.

This was insane.

This? This was the kind of gossip that made Mondays bearable for regular people.

"Great, now that everyone has already gotten their answers, leave the premises before I make you," Sergei said to the reporters.

They lingered a few moments, until the Moskowsky men in black sowed while Sergei walked into the company building like he didn’t just add fuel to a fire that was already consuming everything in its path.

Even his Solnyshka.

Or was that so?