[FROLO]

"I wanted a child!" Yaroslav said, his loud voice echoing across the executive suite, making heads turn in the distance.

Sergei halted.

Didn’t turn to his son.

Instead, he looked ahead, in the glass office that had one particular omega. The omega, whose head had lifted briefly, not because of the commotion, though.

Katya’s eyes met Sergei’s for a split second, and the alpha could swear he wanted to kill his son.

"You. Wanted. A. Child???" Sergei asked, his voice deathly low.

It was almost like he couldn’t believe he was in family court this early in the morning.

What the fuck was wrong with his son?

"Why are you bothered anyway? This is my life. I get to live it the way I want. You taught me that," Yaroslav added passively, clearly not appreciating the way his father was reacting.

Sergei breathed in slowly.

Then out, slowly.

Then turned to look at his son, ignoring the sound of Anya’s office door opening.

This beta couldn’t be serious.

What kind of logic was that?

"I taught you that? Were you not loved enough that you had to turn into whatever the fuck this is? Did I not love you enough?" Sergei asked, his voice plain in disbelief and disappointment, like he was really trying his very best not to explode at his son.

Oh, he was trying, but every word from Yaroslav’s mouth was bound to pull the alphas’ tether. And right now, this beta definitely needed a lesson.

Deep down, Sergei couldn’t lash out like he wanted to, because if he did, then there would come the equation of why.

Yaroslav was right.

His father had taught him to live his life the way he wanted.

His father never once stopped him or disagreed with whatever he did. So why the fuck would he be bothered by Yaroslav cheating?

Was that what this was?

"Five years without a child! You more than anyone should understand th—" Yaroslav boomed, and Sergei smacked him so hard on the cheeks that the beta’s tooth fell off.

The sound still echoed across the suite moments later, and everyone stiffened.

Rahim and Volkov stood with their hands over their mouths like they were trying to decipher what was happening. Hell, what had happened?

Milan stepped a few feet back, like she suddenly remembered who they were dealing with.

Anya gasped visibly at the door, like that right there was the one thing that had never happened. Ever.

Sergei was never violent with his son.

Never.

Katya, who had chosen to focus on work with his music at full volume, didn’t even pay attention. His ear pods were blasting g with loud music.

So loud that it was enough to silence the Moskowsky chaos right ahead of him. And maybe it was for the best because what the heck had just happened.

"Careful with your words, child," Sergei warned, as if this were the worst thing his son had ever said to him.

But it was the insinuation that triggered him.

That was the one thing Sergei never spoke about.

Of course, Sergei knew what it was like to live without a child. He had experienced it firsthand. But it wasn’t because of what his stupid son was insinuating.

Sergei lost himself that day, bound to the promise of what he wasn’t sure he would live through.

But he strived.

Changed his official last name to Moskowsky even as he struggled to be a good parent to their son. The only reminder of his Vitya.

Which was also why hearing Yaroslav argue like that hurt the most.

He may not have known what his father had gone through because Sergei had protected that memory from him and would never divulge it, but it was the cruelest thing that Yaroslav had ever said about his father.

Sergei’s Vitya.

Now, Yaroslav held his cheek, staring at the blood spots on the floor as he looked at his father, the betrayal on his face more than evident.

It was not just new for everyone.

It was new for him too.

This had never happened.

And Sergei...

He was livid.

"You hit me?!" Yaroslav shouted, his voice snapping Katya out of his trance, and when the omega looked ahead, he wasn’t even sure he could appreciate what the hell was happening.

Slowly, Katya removed his earbuds and gods, and the reality of it all settled on him.

First, the baby bump on Milan was still as real as it could ever get.

Then there were the shocked reactions from literally everyone on their floor.

Then the raging alpha, who looked like he wanted to kill someone.

Then at Yaroslav, who was holding his cheek for dear life. He looked too shocked at the actions, and his father just stared.

And that got Katya’s attention.

What was happening?

"You can’t just—" Yaroslav said, complaining again, and Sergei smacked him again.

This time, Yaroslav fell to the floor and hit so hard that Katya couldn’t help but gasp loudly.

And Sergei turned.

To the source of the only gasp that mattered.

To the omega.

To his humiliated Solnyshka.

He saw how Katya’s eyes went back down on the file, like he was not a part of this. But who was to tell Katya that this was nearly because of him? Because of how hard life had been for him. Because of the young Moskowsky?

"Listen here, boy. The next time you humiliate me like that, I will send you to the psych ward myself and make sure you don’t come out for five years," Sergei said, closing the distance between him and his son, before he crouched on the same level as him.

It was a sight that was hard to comprehend.

So much so that even when Sergei grabbed Yaroslav’s jaw tightly to make sure his son was looking at him, the silence remained deafening still.

Katya stole glances, unsure of what to make of it, at all.

"You talk shit about your father, my husband, again, and I will kill you with my bare hands. Do we understand each other?" Sergei said, his grip on Yaroslav’s jaw tightening even harder.

He was not playing any games.

"I... I didn’t mean to, Father," Yaroslav said apologetically, the sincerity in his voice as his eyes met his father’s something that Sergei didn’t quite appreciate.

Yaroslav had crossed a line.

One that he may not have known just how deep it went, but it was a line that was never meant to be crossed, nonetheless.

"You haven’t visited him for years, and suddenly you think you can trash him? Boy, I will kill you," Sergei gritted, controlling his anger. He couldn’t believe that his son had stooped that low.

"I’m sorry, father," Yaroslav insisted in earnest.

But Sergei wasn’t biting that.

This boy had just dared to slander his beloved.

His Vitya.

That was unforgivable.

Even if Yaroslav was the only living reminder of the love of his life.

"Oh, you will be. Starting today, you will not be the CEO of Knox Tech. You will be working here, in this office, as my errand boy until you learn.

"I warned you against recklessness last Friday, but it looks like you are not so good at heeding instructions. But you will learn," Sergei swore, his declaration having Yaroslav stare at him in disbelief.