Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 267 – I’m Judging You

Her jaw tightened. He was insufferable—and impossibly hot. She knew it. He knew it. The water knew it. And the sun hitting his cheekbones like it had a personal grudge against her restraint really knew it.

She gave him a flat stare. ”I’m trying to have a professional afternoon, Lux.”

”Am I ruining that?” he asked innocently.

”Completely.”

He smiled, shameless. ”Noted.”

Ely folded her arms across her chest, trying not to stare at the water trailing down his torso like a greedy hand. Lux in a suit was impressive. Lux in nothing but drenched swimwear was...

Well, it was understandable now—why Naomi got flustered. Why Rava, who didn’t get flustered, still got flustered. He was built like temptation wearing irony.

And he had teeth.

”You are staring at me. I feel judged,” he said lightly.

”I am judging you.”

Lux laughed, low and warm. ”That tracks.”

She turned her head, focusing on a flowering potted plant near the lounge area. Safer. Less likely to inspire questionable thoughts.

”...So what exactly did Mira do that made you want to pay her?” she asked.

There was a pause.

Lux hummed. ”Curious?”

She turned back, frowning. ”Obviously.”

He leaned closer, voice dropping. ”Or jealous?”

Her cheeks burned. Just enough for her ears to heat. ”Curious,” she said too quickly.

Lux’s grin deepened. ”Mhm.”

She scowled. ”Are you going to tell me or not?”

”I’d love to,” he said, pushing gently away from the pool edge, ”but you’ll have to ask her. It’s confidential unless she wants to leak it.”

He gave her a wink before sinking slightly deeper into the pool, his shoulders still visible above the water like a shark politely enjoying a spa day.

And Ely?

She clenched her clipboard like it could anchor her to professional decorum. It didn’t help. Because she wanted to know. And no, not because she had feelings. Or curiosity. Or any—okay, fine. She might have a little crush.

Maybe.

”Anyway,” she said quickly, tone back to business, ”why are you here, really?”

”Swimming,” Lux said. ”Is that not obvious?”

”Not flirting?”

”Not really,” he replied with an unapologetic shrug. ”I just moved into the mansion around the block. Gym’s under renovation. Pool’s out of commission. This was the closest option that didn’t reek of old sweat and bad playlists.”

Ely tilted her head. ”...You moved into a mansion?”

Lux gave a casual nod. ”Carson’s former mansion. Excellent bones. Horrible chi. Lyra’s working on it.”

”Lyra?”

”My housekeeper. She’s loyal but full menace.”

Ely didn’t say anything right away.

Because it hit her then.

’He really was settling in.’

Not just visiting. Not just passing through.

He was here.

And then he said, almost too softly, ”I need to calm myself.”

She blinked.

She remembered the hotel lobby. That subtle shift in his voice when he said he was tired and heartbroken.

She didn’t ask what happened. Elyndra wasn’t the type to press for vulnerability. But the silence between them held weight.

Her throat tightened a little, but she forced a professional nod. ”Understandable.”

He pushed off the edge then, his arms slicing into the water with graceful, predator-smooth strokes. ”I’m gonna do a couple laps.”

And he was gone.

Just like that—cutting through the water like profit through bureaucracy. No splashes. Just power and control wrapped in something strangely gentle.

Ely sat still.

Watching.

Her heart—unfortunately—betrayed her professionalism and started pounding like it was running market simulations at 3X speed.

He looked good. And not just because he was physically perfect. Which he was—insultingly so. But because he moved with purpose. Like someone who had no idea how beautiful he looked when he wasn’t trying.

And those women from earlier?

She couldn’t even blame them.

They’d seen what she saw.

A man alone.

Radiating heat and wealth and vulnerability.

Half-naked, wet, and swimming like the world hadn’t failed him yet.

They were rich women. Powerful ones. They knew how to get what they wanted. Through charm. Through manipulation. Through emotional arbitrage.

And Lux?

He looked like easy prey.

The kind that came with dividends.

But he wasn’t.

Not really.

He was a new player in the city, yes—but one with sharp eyes. One who could break a soul with a kind word and make someone fall in love just by reading a menu aloud, but here?

He was swimming through an entirely different kind of war.

And Elyndra wasn’t even sure if she was watching to protect him...

Or to make sure she didn’t join the battlefield herself.

She exhaled slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

A familiar ache stirred in her chest—one she usually buried under meetings and mergers. But here, in the quiet, with the sun casting golden waves across his back and the faint sound of water lapping the tiles...

She allowed herself a small, stupid thought.

’No wonder Naomi and Rava fell.’

And then she caught herself.

Elyndra Vireleth did not ”fall.” She did not swoon. She did not stare at men like she was thirteen again and watching her first elf-pop idol wave from a floating stage in moonlight.

Except here she was. Sitting on the edge of a luxury rooftop pool in Beberly Hills, heart doing stupid little skips like it had never been inside a woman who handled trillion-credit urban development contracts.

And the worst part?

She wasn’t alone.

Because when she looked up, she realized all the other women were still watching him too.

The housewives. The heiresses. The bored socialites sipping their collagen spritzers while hiding affairs under yoga club schedules.

Their eyes hadn’t left him.

They watched Lux like he was the bonus round in a marriage that had long since stopped being romantic and started being strategic.

And he?

He had no idea.

Or maybe he did.

Here in Beberly Hills, where marriages were technically intact but ethically optional, a man like Lux wasn’t just rare—he was dangerous. Affairs weren’t frowned upon here. They were expected. The secretary-sleeping CEO, the emotionally neglected wife finding comfort in her personal trainer—it was a familiar financial cycle.

But Lux wasn’t a trainer.