Chapter 1045: Not A Payment

Chapter 1045 – Not A Payment

Adrian stepped back despite himself.

Celeste’s hand tightened around the back of a chair.

Naomi watched quietly.

She had seen Lux’s system before.

But seeing it here, inside her family’s estate, hovering over Delacour documents like Hell’s audit department had entered mortal business...

It felt different.

Like two worlds were colliding over her father’s pride.

Adrian’s thoughts scattered.

This was not illusion. No projector. No hidden device. No screen.

The documents on the table responded to Lux’s gesture. Pages lifted, scanned by golden light, then dropped back neatly. Numbers extracted themselves into the air. Signatures glowed red, green, gold. Some clauses burned black for a second before the system marked them.

For the first time, Adrian understood that Lux had not been boasting earlier.

He had been restraining the explanation so mortal pride could survive.

Lux’s eyes moved through the panels. Then he said, calmly, "Someone is trying to sabotage you."

Adrian froze.

Celeste’s breath caught.

Lux flicked two fingers, and three ownership chains expanded. "And not only stall the project. End the Delacour name."

The room went silent.

Adrian stared at the glowing names.

He recognized some.

A contractor.

A legal advisory firm.

A cousin’s investment vehicle.

An outside consultant who had always seemed too helpful.

His stomach tightened.

’No.’ That was his first thought.

Because if Lux was right, then the project had not failed only because it was expensive.

It had been bled. By people close enough to know where to cut.

Celeste’s face went pale. She recognized the implication faster than Adrian did.

This was not business failure. This was an attack disguised as mismanagement.

Her mind moved to family dinners. Board meetings. Smiles. Delayed approvals. Unexpected revisions. Cost overruns. The people who had comforted her while perhaps sharpening the knife.

Lux watched both parents.

Their faces told him enough.

They had suspected pieces.

Adrian swallowed hard. His pride struggled to stand. "Can you handle them?"

Lux looked at him.

Adrian’s voice became sharper, almost desperate now, because desperation often wore command when pride could not bear pleading.

"If you can, I will agree to give Naomi to you."

Naomi went completely still.

Then her eyes moved to her father.

Slowly.

Like something inside her had cracked and she needed a second to decide whether it was anger or grief.

Adrian did not stop. "I don’t care what you do with her."

Celeste’s head snapped toward him. "Adrian."

Naomi looked at her father even more. Hurt had become something colder.

Lux saw it.

And that was enough.

His eyes sharpened.

He swung one hand.

The hologram interfaces vanished.

All of them.

The lights folded into nothing with a single sharp pulse.

The room lost its glow.

Only daylight remained.

Adrian stared at him.

Lux’s voice came low. "That is not a deal for me."

Adrian blinked.

Lux stepped away from the table. "Naomi is not an object."

The words were calm, but the air around them was not.

Adrian felt pressure in his chest as Lux’s gaze pinned him. A presence that said Greed knew exactly what ownership was and refused to let him misuse the word.

Lux continued, "You keep trying to turn her into payment."

Adrian’s jaw tightened. "I am trying to protect my family."

"No," Lux said. "You are trying to profit from losing control."

Adrian’s face flushed with anger. But he did not immediately speak.

He was learning. Painfully.

Because if Lux only wanted Naomi as a prize, then offering permission would have worked.

If Lux wanted access, status, control, possession, or trophy rights, Adrian could bargain with those things.

But Lux refused the deal. Without asking terms.

That meant one of two things.

Either Lux was a better liar than any creature Adrian had ever met...

Or Naomi truly was not part of his transaction.

Adrian looked at his daughter.

Naomi’s face was composed now.

The Delacour training was there, polished and painful. She stood straight, chin lifted, eyes bright but controlled.

He had raised her like that.

To never break in rooms like this.

Now he hated seeing it.

Celeste spoke softly, her voice carrying warning and sadness together. "Adrian. Enough."

Adrian looked at his wife.

Celeste’s eyes were cold now.

He looked back at Lux.

The demon prince stood beside Naomi, not touching her now. He had deliberately let her stand on her own. But his body was angled slightly toward her, a shield without becoming a cage.

Adrian inhaled slowly.

His pride did not want to yield.

But the project room had already shifted.

He had lost the father argument.

He had almost lost the business argument too.

And worse, he had exposed something ugly in front of Naomi that he had perhaps never meant to show so nakedly.

Then...

His mind reached for the one thing left.

A real bargaining point.

Adrian’s voice came quieter.

"Then... The tower."

Lux’s expression sharpened, though he did not move.

Adrian held his gaze. "I will give you access to it."

The words landed differently. But at least this time, Naomi was not the price.

Lux studied him for a long moment. His gaze shifted briefly to Naomi.

She looked at him. Hurt. But steady.

He knew that look.

Lux gave her the smallest nod. Then he looked back at Adrian. "Deal."

Adrian exhaled, almost in relief.

Lux’s voice sharpened immediately. "Let’s finish this."

Then he summoned his system again.

This time, he did not hide it.

Dark-gold light spilled into the project room like liquid wealth poured through invisible glass. Hologram interfaces bloomed around him one after another, hovering over the long table, above the model, beside the stacks of documents, and in front of the wall screens.

Within seconds, the room no longer looked like a Delacour project room.

It looked like Hell’s finance command center had invaded mortal real estate.

Adrian and Celeste froze.

Even Naomi, who had seen Lux work before, felt her breath catch.

This was Lux at work.

And somehow, that was the most terrifying version of him.

His eyes moved too fast. His fingers slid through the holograms, pulling panels, splitting data, rearranging charts, dragging lines between shell companies and investor agreements. Pages lifted from the table without being touched, scanned in gold, then dropped back down in perfect stacks.