My Taboo Harem!

Chapter 960: Goddess’s Halo of Jealousy

For all the time he had known her, he had never seen his Goddess express such a wonderfully mundane, human little emotions.

Not anger in the usual ugly way, envy or insecurity and most importantly, not jealousy.

He had almost convinced himself that perhaps she simply did not possess such thoughts, that jealousy was beneath her, a lower emotion reserved for people unsure of their beauty, their place or their power.

It made sense in the dangerous, ridiculous way logic sometimes did when a man was too busy worshiping a woman to remember she was still a woman and not a marble statue carved by heaven’s most obsessive artisan.

When she saw Catherine’s shirt signed by Phei over the breast area, she had only laughed and called him a naughty dragon. When Catherine cherished it like a religious relic made of fabric and questionable dignity, the Goddess had seemed amused, even fond.

Whenever Elena became lovey-dovey with him, she smiled with maternal affection and something almost indulgent.

With his other women, she had never looked threatened. Never tightened or stepped in with that soft little territorial elegance now blooming around her like perfume.

’And that,’ Phei realized, ’is the genuinely fascinating part.’

Not that she could feel jealousy, but what had finally drawn it out of her.

She had watched a parade of gorgeous women orbit him for weeks without so much as a flicker, women who adored him openly, climbed into his lap, wore his signature over their hearts and none of them had moved her or registered as threat, because none of them had registered as her equal.

Courtney was different, and his Goddess, sharp as she was, had clearly clocked the difference before Phei himself had finished naming it.

The hot female director was not a rival of the Goddess in beauty but a rival in composure.

Courtney had looked at the Young Dragon and felt curiosity where other women felt hunger, and nothing unsettled a queen quite like being near someone she could not make tremble.

Phei shook his head, fascinated, and resolved to be terrible about it immediately.

Phei had even thought, rather foolishly, that maybe she considered jealousy inferior, something reserved for people with inferiority complexes and unstable mirrors.

At least, that was what he had assumed her line of thought would be.

And yet here she stood.

Jealous.

Quietly and beautifully.

Not with the frantic ugliness of insecurity, not with the sharp panic of a woman afraid to be replaced, but with a sovereign possessiveness, like a queen placing one gloved hand over her crown simply because someone’s gaze had lingered too long near the jewels.

’And it’s not because Courtney was as beautiful as Goddess; Courtney is stunning, yes, a polished blonde blade with clever eyes and luminous restraint, but the Goddess belongs to a different category altogether.’

So what was it? What about Courtney had stirred that possessive little halo around his Goddess’s head?

Phei found himself curious.

Naturally, because he was Phei, curiosity immediately became a terrible idea wearing a charming smile.

So, his hand found the Goddess’s waist, his fingers settled with intimate ease, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

She froze but only for a heartbeat.

Then her face bloomed into a smile so bright the cold night looked underfunded. She looked up at him and punched his chest softly; the gesture was far too cute for a woman capable of making empires tremble through silence alone.

"Phei," she murmured, her voice carrying just enough reproach to pretend resistance existed. "We are in public."

But there was no true resistance in it.

Only a subtle invitation hidden beneath the words, the kind of invitation that said if he did it again, she might punish him, reward him, or invent some decadent mixture of both and then deny responsibility afterward.

’Women, as history has demonstrated with catastrophic persistence, remained the most beautifully designed legal hazard ever released upon civilization.’

Phei smiled.

Then, because he had clearly decided survival was overrated and flirtation was a valid method of scientific research, he drew her even closer by the waist.

"That is more reason to let everyone know you are mine, Goddess."

Courtney’s brows lifted slightly.

The Goddess’s eyes softened, that delicate pink radiance within them deepening like dawn imprisoned beneath crystal, tender enough to look holy and dangerous enough to remind Phei that holiness, in the wrong woman’s hands, could still bite.

She reached up slowly, her hand rose with such graceful affection that even Courtney, professional observer and dedicated survivor of rich-people nonsense, could not help watching.

Her palm settled against Phei’s cheek, and her thumb caressed his skin with intimate gentleness.

"Later, dragon," she whispered. "Later."

The word did not sound like refusal.

It sounded like a promise locked away in velvet.

Phei’s smile shifted, darker and deeply pleased, before he mercifully allowed her to turn back toward Courtney.

"What did you need?" the Goddess asked, her tone returning to that composed elegance Courtney knew better, though there was still a glow of jealous beneath it now, a softness at the edges.

"We were actually discussing something important in there."

Phei gave her a look.

The Goddess ignored him with queenly discipline, which was difficult because Phei’s expression had begun openly accusing her of crimes against honesty.

Courtney, for her part, remained unbothered by the public display of affection or the faintly shining halo of jealousy around the Ashford Madam’s head.

She had worked in this industry too long to be intimidated by possessive energy unless it arrived with lawyers, knives or delayed payment.

Romance was one thing. Production schedules were another.

"I wanted to conclude things here and head home," Courtney said, her gaze moving briefly between them with a small, knowing smile. "Though it seems you are already there."

Phei’s brows rose faintly but the Goddess smiled:

Triumphantly.

The kind of smile that said Courtney had confirmed something she had no intention of denying.

"No problem," the Goddess said smoothly. "Let us get it done. I would also like to bring someone back home."

She looked at Phei when she said it.

Phei’s smile widened.

Courtney looked between them again, then gave a short amused breath, because apparently the evening had not been satisfied with destroying two legacy families on live broadcast. It also needed to end with the Ashford Madam behaving like a woman who had found something divine, dangerous and currently close enough to be taken with her.

"Understood," Courtney said. "I’ll keep it quick, then."

"Please do," Phei replied, his voice warm and shameless. "Apparently I’m being transported."

The Goddess’s hand tightened lightly at his waist. "Behave."

Courtney’s smile twitched.

Phei looked down at the Goddess with wounded innocence so false it deserved legal review. "I am behaving."

"You are not."

"I am standing politely."

"You are flirting with logistics."

"Logistics started it."

Courtney sighed softly through her nose, though her amusement was unmistakable. "I see the rumors were useless."

Phei glanced at her. "Which ones?"

"All of them," she said. "They made you sound either tragic, arrogant or impossible. They left out exhausting."

The Goddess laughed, luminous and unguarded, and the sound carried softly into the cold.

Phei’s eyes narrowed with delighted offense. "Courtney, we have officially met for less than two minutes."

"I work fast."

"Dangerous woman."

"Professional woman," Courtney corrected.

The Goddess looked between them, and though she was smiling, Phei felt the small press of her fingers at his waist again. Possessive. Subtle. Lovely. He had never imagined jealousy would look so exquisite on her, but there it was, a quiet flame burning beneath a veil of divine grace.

Phei leaned closer to her ear, voice low enough that Courtney could pretend not to hear if she wished. "You are glowing."

The Goddess’s lashes lowered. "Am I?"

"With jealousy."

Her smile did not falter. "Careful, dragon."

"Or?"

"Or I may stop pretending I do not like when you notice."

Phei’s breath caught in amusement, desire and something softer beneath both.

Courtney stared ahead toward the waiting crew, clearly choosing professionalism over the emotional hazard unfolding three feet away. Sensible. Rare. Almost suspicious. And though she kept her face smooth and her eyes forward, some small private corner of her mind had already begun composing the version of this she would, eventually, have to relay to her sister, because Soraya would ask about the Madam’s mood the way she always did, and Courtney did not yet know that this particular night had threads running between the two of them she could not see and would not have believed if shown.

"Come," the Goddess said, still holding Phei close as they began moving toward the final paperwork and closing discussion. "Let us finish this."

Phei allowed himself to be led.

Behind them, Courtney followed with a slim smile, curiosity blooming brighter than before.

This shoot had been meant to end with signed forms, payment confirmation and a tired drive home.

Instead, she had found the Ashford Madam jealous, the Young Dragon amused, two legacy families bleeding across global screens, and herself standing in the middle of a romance that looked soft only because everyone involved was too beautiful for the danger to appear immediately.

Courtney had worked stranger jobs.

Probably.

’Maybe? ...Actually, no.’

This one was already climbing the list with disturbing confidence.