Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Lux frowned slightly, croissant halfway to his mouth. "I don't get it. For me, this is just a normal thing in the mortal realm. Dirty people trying to flip the script by selling sadness. Unless they're a celebrity or an actress or something, who cares? No one pays for that drama unless the right platform picks it up."

He bit into the croissant, flakes crumbling onto the white tablecloth as he chewed. "Other than that?" he added with a shrug, "Zero value."

Sira hummed into her wineglass. "Mm-hmm."

"Except…" Lux tilted his head, eyes narrowing faintly as the realization clicked. "Unless someone records it and tosses it on social media for views." He winced preemptively. "Please tell me that's not where this is heading."

Sira sipped her wine, then nodded toward the far end of the restaurant. "It's heading exactly there."

Lux turned his head and, sure enough, there she was. A girl—barely into her twenties by the look—stood pretending to read something on her phone. But her camera lens? Aimed straight at Mia and Dolly, hands gripping her phone just tight enough to make it look innocent.

The lens was tilted slightly, barely perceptible to the untrained eye.

Lux groaned. "Ugh. I knew it. I knew this was gonna spiral."

"Dolly's trying to trap her," Sira said calmly. "And it's working. That girl's probably one of her little plants—or at least someone who thinks she'll go viral and ride it into sponsorships."

Lux rolled his eyes and tossed the rest of the croissant onto the plate. "We could already guess the ending. Mia looks like the villain, Dolly does the broken baby-doll act and gets online support. Mia disappears into depression. Can we stop here?"

Sira tilted her head, smile turning foxlike. "Or…"

Lux paused mid-reach for his coffee. "Or?"

She leaned closer. "We could escalate it."

He blinked. "Escalate it? You mean like… throw them into financial doom? Expose their savings, drain their credit scores, max their cards?"

"Tempting," she said dryly.

"Or what," Lux said slowly, "make their life story into a novel? Sell the rights to Netplix? Package their trauma and stupidity into some kind of interactive streaming event?"

Sira gave him a blank look. "By playing with them, of course."

Lux choked on his coffee. "Play? With them?"

"You've never made a drama before?" she said, expression slightly scandalized. "Not even once? No scripted chaos for the sake of indulgence?"

"I can't make drama with numbers, Sira. I'm a CFO. We don't do drama in the finance department," he said, wiping his mouth.

"You don't do numbers here, Vaelthorn. In the mortal realm, you play with people." Her smile sharpened. "And you're overdue."

"I have played with mortals," Lux defended. "Slept with a few of them. Flirted with plenty."

"Yeah," she said flatly, "I know them."

He stared at her, deadpan. "You were spying on me?"

"Of course I was." She tilted her wineglass toward him. "I'm Pride. We catalogue threats. And snacks."

Lux didn't bother arguing. Instead, he leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. "Still doesn't explain what you want to do with these two messes."

"We need to move fast," Sira said, standing up with the kind of grace that felt practiced in courtrooms and killing fields. She tossed her napkin onto the plate, turned to Lux, and added, "Come on."

"Huh?"

She grabbed his wrist and tugged.

"Sira, are you seriously—?"

"Yes. Follow me."

And he did.

He didn't know why he followed her—well, he did. The robe was loose enough on her shoulders to slide when she walked, and her nails still smelled like truffle butter. But also, because Sira rarely did anything without a reason, and that reason was usually wildly entertaining.

So yeah, maybe he was hoping she'd pull him into a mop closet and jump him again.

Instead, she dragged him into the bathroom.

One of the hotel's private luxury restrooms, naturally—dark marble walls, gold fixtures, ambient music playing through invisible speakers. Sira let the door click shut behind them before whirling around.

Lux raised a brow, eyeing the vanity behind her. "Is this a surprise sex round?"

"This isn't for that," Sira said flatly—though she was already pulling at his shirt like she owned it. Which, technically, she was still wearing his robe, so they were in some strange gray area between robbery and foreplay.

"I mean, I'm okay with public sex," Lux muttered, half-heartedly resisting as she shoved her hands under the hem of his shirt. "But this isn't the Infernal Realm. Mortals call this indecent exposure."

"I need your clothes," she said, firm.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Now."

"We're in a luxury hotel. I'm not walking around in just my—"

"You'll wear the robe."

Another blink. "Huh?"

"Just do it." Her voice was absolute. She had the tone of someone who'd been a prince, a judge, and a god in a past life—and was ready to do all three jobs again if he argued.

He was already halfway out of his shirt anyway.

So they swapped.

It was disturbingly smooth. She peeled off the robe, handed it to him, and started sliding into his fitted dress shirt and tailored pants. Her movements were clean, deliberate, and somehow… elegant.

Lux stepped into the robe, tying it lazily around his waist. "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Nope." She buttoned the last button, tugged the sleeves, and rolled her shoulders. "You've got good taste. A little tight in the hips, though."

"Not built for hips like yours," Lux deadpanned, cinching the robe tighter.

Then—without fanfare—Sira's body shimmered.

No heat, no dramatic explosion of demonic power. Just a blink of change, and there stood a tall, lean man with sharp cheekbones, tousled black hair, gold-ringed eyes, and a jawline that could cut steel. He wore Lux's outfit like it had been made for him. Not Lux exactly, but the male version of Sira. Confident, handsome, terrifyingly composed.

And smug.

Lux stared. "I think I know where this will be going."

"Observant," Sira's voice was deeper now, still hers, just pitched with that silky masculinity that made people listen. "Come on. Time to meet Dolly."