Chapter 1061: Intentional Removal

Chapter 1061 – Intentional Removal

Victor’s smile thinned. "Excuse me?"

Lux looked at Adrian.

Adrian understood the choice.

Lux was not taking over his house. He was offering Adrian the knife and asking whether he wanted to cut his own ropes.

Adrian inhaled slowly. Then turned to Victor. "Thank you for your concern."

Victor smiled, already sensing victory.

"But it is unnecessary."

The smile paused.

Adrian continued, voice hardening with every word. "The tower’s removal was intentional."

Celeste’s eyes moved to him.

Lux’s smile deepened.

Victor blinked. "Intentional?"

"Yes."

Hugo frowned. "Removal?"

Adrian stepped forward. "The structure was compromised. We discovered it during a private assessment. For safety reasons, I authorized immediate controlled removal."

Victor’s expression flickered. Only for a second. But Lux saw it.

Adrian’s confidence grew. "The timing is unfortunate only for those hoping to use it as gossip."

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

Adrian’s voice became colder. "As for the project, Delacour will be making an announcement soon."

Victor went very still. "What announcement?"

Adrian smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. "For family, you seem very eager to know."

Silence spread through the hall.

Naomi looked at her father.

For the first time that day, something close to pride flickered in her eyes.

Victor’s gaze slid to Lux. "I see," Victor said softly. "Perhaps we should speak privately."

"No," Adrian said.

Victor froze.

Adrian’s voice was steady now. "You came uninvited. You spoke in front of my wife, my daughter, and my guest. You can leave the same way."

Hugo’s face flushed. "Father—"

Victor lifted one hand, silencing him.

Elise’s smile vanished completely.

Victor looked directly at Lux with no polite mask.

Lux simply smiled back while holding the unconscious orange cat.

Elise Delacour looked at him too. She had known his name.

Everyone did now.

Lux Vaelthorn.

The new city playboy.

The mysterious billionaire.

The man who appeared out of nowhere and had the social circles whispering like bored aristocrats who had finally been given something edible.

Elise had already made a note in her mind before coming here.

She would never be as stupid as Naomi.

That had been simple.

Naomi had always had that quiet softness underneath her elegance. Elise had seen it since they were younger. Naomi could pretend to be cold, pretend to be a proper Delacour, pretend to understand that everything had a price and every smile had a calculation behind it.

But Naomi had always wanted something real.

That made her vulnerable.

Elise had told herself she was not like that. She did not fall.

And she would never lose composure over some handsome man with rumors wrapped around his name.

At least...

That had been before she really looked at him.

Because looking again... Damn.

Lux Vaelthorn looked nice.

Not nice as in kind. No. That word was too simple for him.

Nice as in beautifully arranged by a god who clearly had favorites and no sense of fairness.

Good body.

Obviously.

The suit hid nothing important while pretending to be formal. Broad shoulders, lean waist, controlled posture. Not the gym-show-off kind of body Hugo liked to imitate in mirrors. Lux had the kind of body that looked useful. Dangerous. Like elegance had been built over strength instead of replacing it.

Good looking.

That was also obvious.

His face belonged to expensive scandals and old paintings of devils who convinced saints to make terrible decisions.

But the worst part was not his face.

It was his eyes. Sharp. Aware.

As if he listened not only to words but to the space between them, the hunger beneath them, the weakness they tried to hide.

And that aura.

CEO aura was too small a phrase, but Elise had no better one. He carried the room like a man used to owning consequences. Even while holding a cat.

Because holding the cat should have softened him into comedy.

Instead, it made him stranger.

The fact that he could hold something fragile so carefully while looking like he could ruin a family before lunch made Elise’s thoughts stumble.

At least he was an animal lover.

That was absurdly charming.

And Elise hated that she thought so.

Then... As if he detected her attention, Lux looked at her.

His gaze simply moved and caught hers.

-Ba-thump!

Elise froze. Her heart reacted before her mind gave permission.

One hard beat.

Sharp.

Embarrassing.

Completely unacceptable.

She had already noted the risks. The rumors. The possibility that he was using Naomi. The fact that he had no background anyone could trace. The fact that he was probably trouble with a smile expensive enough to bankrupt common sense.

So why did her body react like that?

Lux’s gaze stayed on her only for a breath.

He looked at her as if he had noticed the reaction, catalogued it, then decided not to spend energy on it.

Elise put her smile back on immediately. "Since we’re already here," she said lightly, "how about tea?"

Victor glanced toward his daughter, and for the first time, his expression showed faint surprise. That had not been the plan. The plan had been pressure, narrative, concern, and offering "family support" until Adrian either yielded or exposed weakness.

Tea meant staying.

Elise continued, voice warm enough to seem harmless. "We aren’t here to oppose you. We were only worried about the tower and everything that happened."

She looked at Adrian with polished sincerity.

"We’re all Delacour, after all. We rise and fall together."

Lux’s mouth curved faintly.

Naomi saw it.

That tiny expression said he was deeply entertained and spiritually unimpressed.

Victor recovered quickly. "Tea," he said, nodding as though this had been his intention all along. "I agree. You don’t mind, do you, Adrian?"

Adrian’s face did not change, but the space around him hardened.

He did mind.

He minded very much.

But refusing outright would make the hall uglier, and now that Lux had called Victor a vulture with slightly better vocabulary, Adrian had become aware of the servants still standing at the walls pretending not to hear anything.

Elise turned her smile toward Lux. "Besides, we’ve never met Mr. Vaelthorn in person before."