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

Chapter 5: Of Brown Envelopes, White Coats & Sealed Fates

[KATYA]

The air had gotten impossibly thick, and Katya couldn’t breathe.

This was not just an impulse decision. This was one that he knew would ruin his entire life. He understood it so well, and yet as he stared at the unrelenting father-in-law, Katya wasn’t sure what to make of this.

What was Sergei’s motivation?

Why him?

And even if there was any validity there, why had he been so confident when he walked into the hospital like that?

Did he know that Katya would agree to the contract that soon?

"The longer you think, the closer your mother is to a grave," Sergei said, not once mincing his words. It was as if he knew what the stakes were, and he had no issues manipulating them in his favor.

Katya’s fingers clenched into a fist, his anger something that he was not ready to show just yet, but even if he did, would it make a difference to Sergei? Would it have the alpha rethinking what he was forcing on the omega?

"What do you want from me? What makes you think I will sign?" Katya asked.

Sergei groaned, irritated as he ran a hand through his hair.

He clearly had not expected that Katya would be this stubborn.

"Your family needs money. I have the money you need. Consider it a convenient transaction. You become mine, and every problem your family has goes away," Sergei said flatly.

Katya knew he was doomed.

He stared at the papers again, his hand on the pen and the code blue still whirring somewhere in the distance.

He didn’t have a choice.

Or maybe he did.

But right now, it was safer to go with Sergei’s options than wait around for help that probably would never come.

"Just so we are clear," Sergei said, his voice colder than it had been before, "Whether you sign the contract or not, you are mine, Romanov."

Katya stiffened.

That...

That was different.

"Every problem?" Katya asked, like this was his chance to bargain. He knew it was stupid to trust the devil of Frolo. But what other choice did he have? freewebnoveℓ.com

"Yes."

Sergei’s response was simple, like it were the only decision that mattered in that moment.

"What if... What if Mama needs another heart?" Katya asked quietly, his voice faltering.

"Then she will get one," Sergei stated without hesitation.

The certainty was compelling yet suffocating in every way.

Katya felt his own heart shatter at that.

Then again, he didn’t have anyone to turn to.

Maybe Yaroslav.

Maybe someone he still didn’t know of yet. But this was a problem he had to fix himself, and if selling himself to this devil of Frolo was the only way out, then he would do it.

"Fine. I’ll sign," the omega said resolutely, then he lifted his head to stare into those cold blue eyes.

"But I won’t be your slave," Katya added, and Sergei laughed quietly at that.

"I have enough slaves doing my bidding, Solnyshka," Sergei reminded.

The reassurance was something that Katya had somewhat expected, yet at the same time, that was of no use coming from alpha Sergei Moskowsky.

"Code blue, cardiac ward. All available cardiologists. To the cardiac ward." freewebnøvel.com

There it was. Again. The reminder of his horrors.

Defeated and desperate, Katya forced himself to stare at the papers. He knew he was dooming himself, but then this was the only way out. This was the inky choice. He had to make things right. He needed to.

"Okay," Katya said, signing the papers.

"Here you go. Now, excuse me," Katya said as he handed the devil of Frolo the signed papers. He didn’t even read through the contract and see if there were any worrisome clauses, but this was not the time.

Sergei would help.

He had offered.

Even if the cost was Katya himself.

With that done, Katya resumed his fight with the IV drip. Relentlessly this time.

"You’re not going anywhere," Sergei said coldly with an unsettling finality.

Katya glared at him as if to remind him that they had a deal. But he did make a deal with the devil. Surely, he didn’t think it was going to be all roses and cinnamon, right?

"Come in," Sergei commanded.

Katya stared at the door, unsure of what to expect. This man was not going to sell him away this soon, right? He did say he would never traffic Katya, but who was to say he was a man of his word?

Well, the doors opened, and through them came doctors.

Not one.

Not two.

Too many.

Thirteen doctors too many. They looked like they belonged with VIP patients and not Katya, who was average, penniless, and trying to go to the cardiac ward.

They were polished.

Too polished for someone like him.

Katya stared, unsure of what to make of this. He had never seen this many specialist doctors. And as he read the tags on their coats, he wondered if this was the end of his life.

"So... My heart for my mother’s," Katya whispered when he saw three cardiologists.

He wanted to beg.

To say that he needed to say goodbye.

To argue that perhaps there were running tests, but he was too tired, and all these people were overwhelming.

"Mr. Moskowsky, these are the specialist doctors assigned to Mr. Gamov’s c—" one of the doctors began.

A low growl ripped through the room.

Sergei.

Everyone stepped back instinctively, like this was the one bout of danger no one had prepared them for. But then again, this was the devil of Frolo. They must have known that already.

"He is my husband. Mine. He will be addressed as Mr. Moskowsky. The next tongue that calls him fucking Gamov will never function again," Sergei said calmly, like he didn’t already growl at them.

No one breathed for a second there.

"Husband," Sergei had said.

Katya stared.

It was all that he could do anyway.

He didn’t know what to say. What to do.

So, he just lay there on the bed, like he was an experiment that needed to be studied. He had long stiffened, and if Sergei had noticed, he didn’t show.

"My husband has had a miscarriage and lost a lot of blood. Fix him," Sergei said to the doctors who stood stiffly.

"If you hurt him, if I find an unneeded scar on him, if so much as a hair is out of place on him, I will burn down this hospital. Then I’ll go say hello to your families. One. By one," Sergei said coldly, his voice cutting through the already thick silence.

The room changed from the warmth it had almost had to a tense room with so much ice. Everything felt like it was made of glass, and worse, Katya felt like a tool in a long game he knew nothing about.

"We will take care of him, sir," the doctor from before said shakily.

Sergei didn’t bother with them anymore.

Instead, he turned to Katya, who stayed still on the bed, like everything else was not in his reach anymore. He had signed over his fate, and this was the result.

"Solnyshka," Sergei breathed like a prayer.

Katya didn’t respond.

Kept staring at the ceiling as if that was where everything was. Like that was the last of his hope, and honestly, maybe it was safer that way.

For him.

For the doctors.

For everyone in this hospital.

"I’ll get your mother into surgery and sort what is needed," the alpha breathed quietly.

"Don’t get any ideas about running away. I will find you wherever you run," Sergei warned softly, almost in reassurance.

It was strange, really, because the man was so damn confusing.

His hand softly caressed Katya’s cheek, wiping away the tears that had pooled in the omega’s eyes. It was a stark contrast given everything the man had said, but did Katya even have a choice anymore at this point?

Was he in a position to debate or even have a chance to live anymore?

"The doctors will get you to a better room. I’ll come see you when I can, Solnyshka. Until then, be a good boy," Sergei said, before he bent to kiss Katya’s forehead.

"No one will take your heart," Sergei added, like he just remembered something that Katya said.

Katya turned to him quietly. The omega didn’t have any words for the alpha anyway.

The doctors watched in silence as everything unfolded.

And when Sergei walked out the door, they all got to work, not wasting any time, and boy had Katya never seen such a situation before.

He didn’t resist. Didn’t fight. Just set an alarm for forty minutes. Because even after everything, he still owed his Papa a visit, and forty minutes of sleep didn’t sound as bad.

Perhaps this time it wouldn’t be so bad.

But would it ever be worth it, selling himself to the devil of Frolo and trusting the man who wasn’t even clear about his intentions?

Oh, but he had no clue what he had just walked into.

Maybe heaven.

Maybe hell.

Maybe both.

But time would let him know, right?

With that last thought, the omega let himself drift off to sleep.

Oh, Katya.