MTLNOVEL Chapter 249: Rejected
The man in the corner—the old-money type with the smug posture—finally made his move. Lux caught the flick of his wrist, the quiet nod toward one of his underlings in a too-crisp suit.
The younger man rose from his table like a wind-up toy, straightening his tie, and walked toward theirs with the purposeful, polite gait of someone about to offer something they thought was irresistible.
"Miss," the underling said, stopping at Sira's side with a practiced half-bow.
He extended a glossy black envelope embossed with a gold crest. "My employer would like to extend a personal invitation. Dinner. Yacht. Or perhaps an afternoon in Moonaco. He can provide—"
"I'm not interested," Sira said, not even looking up from her omelet. Her fork slid through the lobster like she was performing surgery on something beneath her notice.
The underling hesitated, clearly unused to being cut off, but recovered quickly. "He is prepared to give you anything you desire. Money, jewels, property—"
"No," she repeated, still without a glance. Her tone didn't rise, but it had that edge to it—the subtle cut that told Lux she was seconds away from making this man's day very educational.
The underling stiffened, murmured a stiff "I understand," and retreated to deliver the message.
Lux sipped his coffee, savoring the bitter heat, and watched the ripple hit the corner table. The older man's face pinched in irritation, lips pressing into a line as he set down his champagne flute. Apparently, "no" was not in his vocabulary.
He rose.
The walk over was leisurely, as though the restaurant was simply a part of his estate and everyone in it existed for his amusement. He stopped beside their table, his shadow stretching across the white linen.
"I believe you misunderstood my offer," he said to Sira, his voice a smooth, cultivated purr that reeked of entitlement. "I can give you anything. Everything. All you need to do is say yes to my simple invitation."
Lux set his cup down, glancing up at the man with a look that was neither impressed nor particularly hostile.
"I can handle them for you," he murmured to Sira.
She didn't even shift in her chair. "No, thank you. I can handle them."
There was no bravado in her tone—just the calm certainty of someone who already knew the outcome.
Lux leaned back, one arm over the chair, coffee in hand, deciding to enjoy the show.
Sira set down her fork and finally looked up at the man, her gaze sweeping him with the slow, clinical assessment of a jeweler evaluating a fake diamond. Then she smiled—a small, sharp thing that didn't reach her eyes.
She didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to.
The Pride magic slid into the air like a ripple through glass.
[Sira Shadowborn has activated Reputation Destroyer.]
Lux felt it—not invasive, but impossible to ignore. It was the kind of presence that didn't just demand attention; it rewrote the room to give it.
Her fingers tapped once against the table, a quiet beat that made the hair on the back of
Lux's neck lift—not because it was threatening, but because he knew exactly what she was about to do.
Somewhere across the restaurant, the first phone pinged. Then another. And another.
Lux hid a grin behind his coffee as the man's underling's phone buzzed, screen lighting up with an incoming flood.
At another table, a woman's tablet beeped.
Then a waiter's smartwatch vibrated so hard it nearly slipped off his wrist.
On the far wall, the large flat-screen TV showing muted stock tickers and news headlines flickered. The channel cut without warning to a series of images and documents—court records, offshore bank statements, names of women paid under the table to keep quiet. Grainy photos in hotel rooms. Receipts for wire transfers with memo lines that might as well have been confessionals.
Every screen in the room followed suit. Laptops. Phones. Even the discreet digital menus the hotel used.
It wasn't loud—no dramatic announcer, no blaring alarms. Just the cold, silent dump of everything. The kind of silence that made every heartbeat sound like a drum.
Lux took a slow sip, savoring the way the coffee rolled over his tongue.
"Subtle," he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear.
Sira's eyes stayed on the man, watching the shift in his expression—not from guilt, but from the creeping realization that control was slipping.
He reached for his phone, found it locked on an image of himself mid-bribe, mid-lie, mid-sin.
Around them, the atmosphere tilted. Whispers started in little pockets. Heads bent together. Someone stifled a laugh. The man's name—spoken quietly, like the first spark before a wildfire—passed from one table to the next.
The man straightened, jaw tight. He looked around in confusion. "What is going on?"
Pride demons didn't just punish; they dismantled. And once the cracks showed, the whole façade came down.
More pings. Outside the restaurant, in the lobby, Lux could hear the faint echo of other devices chiming. The infection was spreading beyond the walls now—hotel guests, staff, anyone connected to the network.
The TV switched to a montage of headlines from news outlets—some familiar, some obviously conjured for emphasis.
"Local Business Magnate Under Investigation for Financial Crimes."
"Multiple Allegations Surface Against Prominent Investor."
"Charity Funds Diverted to Private Accounts."
And all had the man's face on the screens.
"Seems like you have your own problem." Sira picked up her wine, swirling it lazily, eyes still locked on him.
"You walked over here thinking you could own me," she said, tone almost conversational. "Funny."
Lux let out a low chuckle into his coffee. She was thorough.
The man's face flushed an ugly red, but he didn't lunge or shout—no, he did what all cornered men like him did. He backed away without admitting defeat, retreating with a stiff spine and a muttered order to his underling.
Lux watched him go, the air in the restaurant humming with barely contained gossip.
"That was surgical," Lux said finally, setting down his cup.
Sira took a slow sip of wine. "Pride doesn't raise its voice," she said simply. "We let the world do it for us."