Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 481 – Public Proposal

Lux didn’t answer.

Because Jeremy was already motioning toward the final display case—the one that held the third pearl.

Jeremy stepped forward, the spotlights adjusting automatically to bathe him in soft amber glow. He lifted his hand toward the case like he was revealing a jewel to royalty.

”Incredible, isn’t it?” he said, voice practiced and smooth. ”Our final piece today is not for the faint of heart. This siren pearl is... beyond rare. It contains a full enchantment core—unbroken, refined in its natural agony. Look closely. See the way it pulses? That’s a living tear signature, still intact.”

The crowd murmured.

Gasps. Muted awe. Envy.

Lux didn’t speak.

But his jaw tightened.

That wasn’t awe pulsing in the pearl. That was pain. Frozen and sold as luxury.

Jeremy smiled wider, clearly savoring the attention. ”We appraised this piece at a baseline value of seventy million.” He turned slightly. ”But the truth is—”

He paused for dramatic effect.

”I’m not going to sell it.”

The whole room stilled.

Even Lux tilted his head a little.

Jeremy’s gaze slid across the rows of buyers, performers, masked socialites and bored royalty—until it landed directly, obviously, intentionally—

On Sira.

And stayed there.

”I want to give this,” Jeremy said, voice softening to that awful romantic tone Lux had heard too many times in failed contract negotiations, ”to someone special.”

Lux blinked once.

Jeremy’s eyes didn’t move.

”She’s strong,” he continued. ”Independent. Beautiful. I fell for her on the first sight. I’ve admired her. And I would be honored—if she would accept not just the pearl... but me.”

A beat of silence.

Then another.

Jeremy held his hand to the side. One of his assistants rushed forward, holding something in a velvet-lined box.

A ring.

A stupid, mortal, glittering ring.

”I want her to stand beside me. Not as a guest—” he paused, chest puffed. ”—but as my wife. My partner. My queen.”

Lux sighed, dry as bone.

”Oh,” he said softly, ”he’s proposing.”

Sira didn’t respond right away. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Just stared.

Then slowly—

”Ew,” she muttered. Then again, louder. ”Ew. Ew.”

She crossed her legs in the other direction like she needed to spiritually realign herself.

”Oh for Pride’s sake,” she groaned, clutching the armrest like the seat itself was about to betray her. ”I feel like toilet slimes just crawled all over my skin. It’s disgusting.”

Lux’s eyes glittered. ”I think you broke him without touching him.”

”I feel violated,” Sira hissed. ”I’d rather drown in low-interest mortgages.”

A nearby guest actually gasped softly.

Jeremy, still holding the ring, looked confused by the silence.

The room, polite and awkward, didn’t know whether to clap or cry.

Lux leaned toward Sira and whispered, ”Want me to reject him with flair, or just leak his offshore laundering records?”

”Surprise me,” she whispered back.

And just as Lux was about to stand—

Corvus spoke again in his mind.

’Boss. Showtime. Got the recordings. Visuals. Audio. Witness testimony. And a bonus: surveillance from the pearl extraction room. Wanna cue it up? Got a signal running through the building’s display projector. Just give the word.’

Lux exhaled slowly.

’Project. Now. Overlay their system. Let them choke on the truth.’

’With pleasure.’

And then—

The lights dimmed.

Not part of the program.

Not scheduled.

The crowd murmured.

Jeremy looked confused, turning slightly as the display behind him shimmered.

And then—

It began.

The screen flickered once.

Then played.

A grainy, magically recorded video from inside a sterile, rune-lined chamber. White walls. Alchemical restraints. A small figure chained on the table—familiar to those who’d seen her before.

Ariel.

Her eyes wide. Terrified. Her mouth trembling.

Her legs?

Oh, there were no legs. Only fish tail.

A mermaid.

There was no sound yet.

Just the image.

Then—

A Delmar technician stepped into frame.

”Begin the extraction.”

Someone else moved into view, pressing a glowing needle against Ariel’s chest.

Her body arched in agony.

And the first pearl shimmered into being.

The room gasped.

Hard.

Jeremy’s face drained of color.

Sira?

Sira didn’t breathe.

Lux remained seated. Still. Silent. Watching the silence detonate.

The video continued.

Pearl after pearl.

Screams finally added.

The sound had been filtered for legal reasons. But Corvus found the original. Raw. Echoing.

Mariell Delmar stood up in her seat.

”No,” she whispered. ”No, this wasn’t—this was—”

Lux stood.

Finally.

And every head turned.

He adjusted his sleeve calmly.

”Before anyone gets confused,” he said, voice smooth as gold over a dagger, ”these aren’t siren pearls. Sirens don’t produce pearls. The Delmars are no exception.”

He walked slowly toward the stage, shoes clicking softly on polished marble, each step peeling the silence open like a blade.

”They’re Ariel Avariel’s. Her tears. Her pain. Her body.”

He stopped directly in front of Jeremy.

Who looked ready to faint.

Pale. Shaking. Ring still clutched in hand like some desperate romantic prop from a tragedy that no one wanted to watch anymore.

Then Jeremy snapped.

”You—who are you?!”

His voice echoed through the suddenly too-quiet hall, cracking under emotion. Anger. Embarrassment. Fear.

”I didn’t invite you!”

He turned to the staff. ”Guards! Get him out—!”

Lux didn’t blink.

Didn’t raise his voice.

Just leaned in, eyes cool, steady, glowing faintly under the surface like coals in velvet.

”I wouldn’t,” he said softly. ”You know why?”

He tilted his head just enough to make Jeremy flinch.

”Because those recordings... the ones we just showed everyone here?”

Lux smiled.

”They’re already saved in seventeen backups and a few off-shore blackboxes. Including one set to deliver to the authorities if you so much as touch me wrong.”

A hush fell.

Lux’s tone didn’t rise.

It didn’t need to.

”Well,” he added casually, ”not that it matters. The entire room already saw it. And unlike you, I don’t need a mic to be heard.”

Then Mariell stood.

”You,” she breathed, pointing like accusation was an act of nobility. ”You’re with Ariel.”

Lux turned his head toward her slowly.

”Yes,” he said. ”I’m with Ariel.”

Then he took a step closer. Not enough to threaten. Just enough to dominate the air between them.

”The girl you tossed away after you drained her pearls.”