Zend certified PHP/Magento developer

can not install magento 2.4.2 in sub directory

facing issue to install magento 2.4.2 in sub directory – because in magento 2.4.2 and higher website root file is different than it was in magento 2.4.1 or lower (like 2.3).
magento 2.4.2 or higher websites work from pub folder

situation:

  • upgraded to magento 2.4.2 from 2.3.7 => successful (as far as i can tell)
  • terminal access working
  • magento installation is on sub folder (mydomain.com/stage-site)
  • on the main domain (mydomain.com) there is a website (wordpress).
  • this setup is working and stable up to magento 2.3.7
  • I am on a shared hosting plan, so server root access is limited

problem

  • error “can not find” – can not access the front end and admin (found out this is due to a change in the root file method and magneto now working from /pub and assuming the magento is installed on a main domain (why??!!)

  • found a handful of suggestions here for exact same problem, but all seem to be from about 2+ years ago, and none worked for me

has there been any update about this (critical) problem in the past 2+ years?

I would have assumed there would be an easy patch by now, but cant find anything

any help would be highly appreciated

some server details:
linux
php 7.4
Apache 2.4.59
MySQL 8.0