Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

She froze, breath hitching. Her arms wrapped tighter around her torso, but her eyes darted to his, confusion raw in them.

Footsteps clicked against the tile behind him. Sira's perfume wafted closer—spiced wine and arrogance.

"What happened?" she asked, voice suddenly sharp instead of mocking.

Lux didn't look at her. He kept his eyes on Ariel. "Mermaid. Kidnapped young. Dumped with the Delmars. They milked her for pearls, called it a curse. When the revenue dried up, so did their affection."

Ariel flinched with every word, shame carving itself deeper into her face.

Sira exhaled, low, disbelieving. "No kidding."

Lux's mouth quirked bitterly. "Nope."

The silence that followed wasn't peace. It was thick, heavy, the kind that tasted like salt and iron. The only sound was water lapping against the tiles as Ariel curled smaller in the pool, her scales flashing faintly under the sun.

Lux's thoughts spun like ledgers flipping open.

He'd seen demons broken on contracts, mortals chewed up by predatory loans, angels bled dry by their own pride. He'd seen desperation in a thousand different fonts. And Ariel wore it like a second skin.

But there was something else here too. Potential.

A balance sheet misfiled.

A ledger someone had marked as "worthless" without reading the fine print.

Lux hated bad math more than he hated celestial's old order.

Sira knelt beside him. She studied Ariel, her sharp prideful eyes softening in a way Lux almost never saw.

"She's terrified," Sira murmured.

"Yeah," Lux agreed, watching Ariel cover her face, tail flicking in frantic shame. "And she's bankrupt."

He leaned in a little closer, voice low, cutting through Ariel's gasps.

"Listen, sweetheart," he said. "You're not cursed. You're not broken. You're just… cooked books. Someone lied about the numbers, and you believed it."

Her gaze shot to him, trembling, disbelieving.

Sira shot him a sidelong look. "You sound almost… protective."

Lux shrugged. "I sound like a CFO fixing someone else's botched ledger."

Sira's laugh was soft this time. Almost kind. She tilted her head, strands of her dark hair catching the light as she studied him. "Anyway… you should talk like mortals, Lux. Not like a CFO. She doesn't understand half the things you say."

Lux's lips quirked. "I guess."

His gaze slid back to Ariel. She had sunk lower, water sliding down her shoulders, tail curling tight beneath her as if she could disappear into the depths.

She still looked shaken, ashamed, but there was something else in her eyes now. Not hope. Not fully. But the faint shimmer of it, like the first glint of a coin at the bottom of a well.

Sira arched a brow, her smirk returning, softer but edged. "Always collecting strays, aren't you?"

"Always," Lux agreed smoothly.

She gave him one last look, a silent exchange humming between them—something amused, something territorial, something... slightly fond. Then she glanced back at the pool and folded her arms.

"She looks hungry," Sira said at last. "I'll have Lyra prepare something for her."

"Yeah, please," Lux said, standing up and dusting off his slacks. "Also tea. Strong."

Sira cocked her head. "Only tea?"

"I already ate," he said casually, sliding his jacket off and draping it over the lounge chair. "Had a late lunch with the people at the studio," he said with a smirk, fingers popping the buttons on his shirt one by one.

Sira stepped closer as the shirt fell open. Her hand rose to his chest—light touch, barely a graze—and she leaned in.

"Just don't scare her," she murmured, and kissed him.

Soft. Warm. The kind of kiss that said 'I'm watching you,' but not in a threatening way. More like… 'I care, idiot.'

"I won't," he promised, voice low as she pulled away.

Sira left with a flourish, hips swaying as if she knew exactly how many stares she earned just by breathing. Lux didn't stare, though. Not this time.

His focus was elsewhere.

The moment she disappeared around the corner, he dropped his belt with a soft clink of metal and stepped out of his pants.

Then—with the kind of grace that could only come from someone far too confident in their skin—he dove into the pool.

Water embraced him like an old mistress. Cool. Clean. Unjudging. The kind of silence that didn't expect you to speak.

He surfaced with a flick of his hair, blinking water from his lashes, only to see—

Ariel.

Frozen.

She looked like she was about to bolt, tail twitching, eyes wide with pure panic.

Lux moved fast. Not threatening—just fast enough to close the distance, hands up like a mediator in a hostage negotiation.

"Whoa, hey—hey. Don't run. I don't bite."

Her breathing hitched. "You look like you're going to scold me."

That stopped him cold.

She hugged herself, tail folding inward, voice trembling. "I know… all of this—this mansion, this kindness—it's not free. I'll pay you back. I'll work for you. I can clean. Cook. I'll be your servant. Just… don't scold me."

Then her voice cracked. And her next words weren't words. Just a sob.

Lux's stomach turned.

Not from pity. Not from revulsion. But from a deep, simmering anger he'd perfected long ago. The kind that didn't come out in shouts. The kind that buried people under lawsuits and ruined empires in silence.

He moved closer, slowly, and caught her wrist. Her skin was cold from the water. Fragile. Too thin.

"I'm not mad," he said. Then hesitated.

"…Okay, I'm kind of mad."

Her eyes widened, panic spiking.

"Not at you," he clarified quickly. "Not you, Ariel. I'm mad at the people who made you believe that breathing came with debt."

She still looked unsure, flinching even under his soft tone.

Lux exhaled hard. His grip gentled. "Look. I won't lie. I'm a little irritated. Yeah. With the way you keep apologizing for existing. With how fast you assume you're a burden. But not because I blame you. I don't. I get it."

He crouched in the water, sinking to her level. Their eyes met.

"I understand why you're like this. That's the difference. I know why your instinct is to curl up and offer your worth like a discount coupon. But that ends here. With me."