Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 376: Like a Cash Cow
Chapter 376 – Like a Cash Cow
The servants broke her trance, their careful voices interrupting the storm in her chest.
"Lady Xianlong," one of them said, bowing just enough to show respect but not so deep they risked spilling the stacked boxes in their arms. "Where should we place your things?"
Mira smoothed the edges of her dress and turned, regaining that poise dragons were bred to perfect. "Closet room first. Shoes in the side chamber." She flicked her fingers like a queen conducting an orchestra. "And careful with the silk trunks—if you crease one dress, you’ll be swimming in vinegar for a week."
The servants bowed again and rushed to obey, carrying her empire-in-luggage past Lux.
Lux’s expression hadn’t shifted. Calm. Gentlemanly. Almost too polite. His lips quirked as though still entertaining her last words, but his eyes... Mira caught it, just for a flicker. Numbers. Calculations. Fire.
"I’ll excuse myself," Lux said smoothly. His voice was silk cut with steel. "Wouldn’t want to bother you while you unpack."
He bowed slightly—not too deep, just enough to be infuriatingly elegant—then turned.
Mira narrowed her eyes. He was leaving, yes, but she knew that look. That little twitch at the corner of his mouth. He’d understood everything she’d implied about the Delmar family.
The moment Lux’s shoes touched the threshold, his smile faded. His mask slipped.
And what remained was him.
The hall swallowed him whole. The faint hum of runes buzzed against his ears, pulsing with every beat of his heart.
He didn’t rush. He didn’t let his steps echo. He simply walked, precise as a ticking metronome, until no one could see his face.
Then—
His jaw tightened.
His hand flexed.
And the old words crawled back into his skull like maggots from a vault ledger.
"Calculator."
"Ledger boy."
"Just balance the books, Vaelthorn."
"Make sure the vaults don’t bleed."
"Be useful, but stay quiet."
That was what they said in Hell. That was what they always said.
He wasn’t a Sin Lord. Not officially. Not like his father. He didn’t carry titles. Didn’t walk with crowns hanging off his horns.
No. He was a number on legs.
A living spreadsheet in a silk suit.
A pretty face for an ugly system.
And now...
Ariel.
A girl he barely knew.
A girl the Delmars had bled dry.
Pearls ripped from her. Mana sucked until she was hollow. And then they had the guts to toss her aside.
Like trash.
Like balance sheet overflow.
Lux’s smirk twisted upward, sharp as a guillotine.
"Oh," he whispered to himself. "I really want to bankrupt them."
The thought didn’t feel like a plan.
It felt like a promise.
"Who do you want to bankrupt?"
The voice pulled him back. Light. Familiar. Cutting through the dark.
Naomi.
He didn’t even think. He turned, saw her stepping through the entry doors, casual yet radiant as ever. Perfect dress. Hair pinned with subtle jewels. Mortal skin glowing under light like she was her own brand of currency.
And Lux moved.
One second between them, then none. His arm slipped around her waist, dragging her flush against him. His lips crushed hers, passionate, deep, tasting of fire and ink and hunger.
Naomi gasped against his mouth. Her arms fluttered up—half to resist, half to cling. He tilted her back slightly, making her toes leave the ground, the kiss pulling every breath from her lungs until she melted into it.
The sound of servants still shuffling trunks down the hallway barely registered. One dropped a box. Another coughed into his sleeve.
Naomi pulled back just an inch, cheeks flushed. Her lips parted. "Lux..."
"Naomi," he murmured, eyes wide, pretending innocence like a wolf pretending to be a puppy. "I missed you."
Her heart skipped. Damn him. Damn him for those eyes. Big, open, soft—like the most harmless boy in the world. Eyes that said "don’t be mad" even as his tongue had stolen her composure three seconds ago.
"You—" She pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the steady thump beneath his silk shirt. "You can’t just do that while—while people are walking—"
"I can," he said simply. "This is my mansion."
Naomi’s blush deepened, blooming across her cheeks and ears. "Lux..."
He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear. "Tell me to stop, and I will."
Her breath hitched. Her knees almost buckled.
Goddamn him.
Her mouth opened, but no words came. Just heat. Just silence.
He smiled against her skin. "Thought so."
Behind them, Mira’s servants scurried faster, their eyes glued to the floor, clearly desperate not to see more than they already had. One whispered to another in hushed tones, "This house is cursed." The other whispered back, "Blessed. Depends on who you ask."
Lux ignored them.
Naomi tried to, but her heart was thundering too loudly.
She finally found her voice. "Who... were you talking about?" she asked, still catching her breath. "Who do you want to bankrupt?"
Lux didn’t answer immediately. He straightened, his playful expression cooling into something sharper.
"The Delmars," he said finally.
Naomi blinked. "The pearl sellers?"
"Yes." His jaw set. "And what they’ve done."
Naomi studied him for a long moment. She knew that tone. That softness in his smile gone. That cold, precise weight in his words.
It wasn’t seduction anymore.
It was strategy.
"...What did they do?" she asked softly.
Lux’s gaze flickered, shadowed by memory. "They took someone. Used her. Bled her dry. And then tossed her away."
"Someone you know?"
He hesitated. Then shook his head. "Doesn’t matter. They treated her like I was treated."
Naomi frowned. "You?"
He exhaled, a humorless sound. "Back then, they called me a calculator in a suit. Said I was just here to balance the economy. That my worth was only in what I produced for others. That I wasn’t fit to lead—only to tally. A vault with legs."
Naomi’s hand tightened on his chest. Her heart hurt.
"They looked at me like the Delmars looked at her," Lux continued. "Like a cash cow. Like something they could milk until nothing was left." His smile returned, but it was sharp, cruel. "And I don’t take kindly to people who think others are disposable."
