Poisoned Paradise

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:MADDIE ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

The screen of my phone stayed dark. I tapped the glass again, staring at the empty message thread while the luxury yacht sliced through the deep blue ocean.

This weekend carried two massive milestones. Camilla’s birthday bash on her billionaire father's private island, and the night I would finally lose my virginity to Caleb.

Caleb lounged beside me. His arm stretched over the back of the leather seat. His hand rested on my thigh, his thumb drawing slow circles against my bare skin. He was already thinking about tonight.

Across from us, Camilla adjusted her designer sunglasses. She held a crystal flute of champagne, the ocean breeze catching her blonde hair.

Camilla let out an exaggerated sigh and took a sip of her drink. "You have checked your phone twelve times in the last hour, Maddie. Your brother is just sitting in your trailer like always. He is fine."

I glanced down at my device. I had not realized my screen-tapping was that obvious.

"He promised he would text me."

Camilla let out a loud groan. "Oh my God. Maddie, your brother has round-the-clock medical care, physical therapy, and expensive medication. My family pays for all of it. He will survive a single weekend without you."

Caleb leaned down and pressed his lips against my shoulder. "She is right."

The words stung, but I swallowed the lump in my throat. Nolan was not just my brother. He was the only family I had left after the accident.

"I just want to be sure he is okay."

Camilla pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. "This is my birthday trip, and I did not invite you out here to watch you play worried wife to your crippled brother. Do not ruin my weekend with your sad orphan guilt-trip."

Caleb squeezed my thigh. "Let it go, Maddie. Nolan is probably fast asleep. Just relax."

I stared at the water. Camilla Prescott held the title of the wealthiest heiress in the city. Everyone bent over backward for her. My boyfriend of ten years was no exception.

She smirked, swirling the golden liquid in her glass. "See? At least your boyfriend knows how to relax. Maybe you should take a few notes."

I kept my mouth shut. The truth was ugly. I loved Camilla. We had been best friends since junior year of high school. But she also held the ultimate leverage over my life. The Prescott Foundation covered my college tuition. They paid for Nolan’s medical treatments. They kept my fractured world intact.

Whenever Camilla got cruel, I just took it. Gratitude and hostage-level humiliation blurred together when you were drowning in debt. I owed her my life.

The island finally materialized on the horizon. My chest tightened at the sheer scale of the property. Massive white villas dotted the lush coastline. Dense palm trees swayed around towering glass walls reflecting the harsh sunlight.

Camilla flashed a blinding smile. "Welcome to Prescott Island."

Caleb shook his head with a laugh. "Woah. This place is bigger than our campus."

"My dad likes his privacy." Camilla said.

Dominic Prescott. The owner of Prescott Global. The phantom billionaire behind the foundation keeping my brother alive. I had never met the man, but his name commanded every room in the city.

Camilla pointed toward the highest jagged cliff on the property. A massive penthouse clung to the edge. It was built of dark steel and tinted glass, overlooking the endless ocean.

Camilla dropped her hand. "That floor stays locked. It is my dad's personal space and is strictly off-limits."

Caleb let out a low whistle. "Looks intense."

"That is because he is." Camilla laughed.

I stared up at the cliffside glass structure for a few seconds too long.

Camilla caught my gaze. Her smile turned sharp. "Relax, Maddie. He is not even here."

Heat rushed up my neck. "I just wanted to thank him personally. What the Prescott Foundation has done for Nolan and me... it means everything."

Camilla let out a dry, mocking chuckle. "Yeah, sure. Girls make up all kinds of pathetic excuses to get with my dad all the time."

"God, Cami. I am not trying to get with your dad."

Camilla looked me up and down with a cold gaze. "Good. Because my dad does not do college girls, and he definitely does not look twice at girls wearing cheap thrift-store dresses."

Caleb burst out laughing.

Camilla laughed right along with him.

I forced out a hollow, painful laugh of my own. I pretended the humiliation did not burn a hole straight through my chest.

The yacht pulled up to the luxury dock.

The second my cheap sandals hit the wooden planks, I pulled out my phone again. The screen remained empty.

Caleb grabbed our duffel bags from the crew. Camilla hooked her arm through mine, her cruel mood seemingly evaporating into thin air.

"You are staying in the east cabana with Caleb."

My pulse jumped. "Oh."

Camilla threw me a knowing smirk. "Oh?"

I looked at the ground, my cheeks burning hot in the afternoon sun.

Camilla scoffed and waved her manicured hand. "Please. You two have been dating for six months. It is about damn time you did it."

She let go of my arm and strutted toward the main villa, leaving Caleb and me by the dock.

Caleb stepped close to me. I could smell the sharp mint on his breath. "Are you getting nervous about tonight?"

"A little bit." I admitted.

He gave me a soft smile and brushed the hair from my face. "I will be gentle."

God, I loved him. Tonight was supposed to fix everything. We were finally going to take that massive step.

Right then, my phone buzzed in my hand.

Nolan’s name flashed across the screen. I let out a massive breath of relief.

I stepped away from Caleb and picked up the call. "It is Nolan."

My brother sounded fine. He had taken a nap, eaten a real meal, and taken his afternoon meds. He told me to stop stressing and to actually enjoy the island. He even cracked a terrible joke about making sure Caleb used protection.

I hung up the phone with a genuine smile. The crushing weight evaporated from my chest. Nolan was safe. Now, I could focus on Caleb. I was ready.

By the time I walked back toward the main pool area, heavy bass thumped through the outdoor speakers.

I looked around the sprawling deck. Caleb was nowhere to be found. The bags were gone too.

He must have headed to the room first. He was probably setting up the space, waiting for me. My pulse kicked into a frantic, anticipating rhythm.

I followed the stone pathway toward the east side of the estate. Small glowing lights illuminated the landscaping.

I passed the first cabana. It was empty and dark.

The second cabana had its lights blazing. I heard voices. I heard rough laughter.

Then, dead silence.

My footsteps slowed on the stone path. A sinking sensation formed in the pit of my stomach. It was that distinct physical reaction when your gut knows something catastrophic is happening before your brain catches up.

My feet kept moving on autopilot.

I approached the glass doors. The linen curtains hung half-open.

I looked inside.

My best friend was straddling my boyfriend on the oversized white couch.

For three agonizing seconds, my brain refused to compute the image. I stared at them, a heavy ringing noise deafening my ears.

Camilla straddled Caleb. Her blonde head was thrown back exposing her throat, her body moving with desperate force. Caleb gripped her bare hips, his fingers biting into her skin like a starving man.

"Harder!" Camilla gasped.

He slammed his hips up, burying his cock deep inside her. He fucked her like she was the only supply of oxygen in the room. He pounded into her with ruthless desperation.

My vision swayed. My legs felt like lead.

This was supposed to be our night. This was the man who just looked me in the eyes and promised to be gentle. Now, he was fucking my best friend in the cabana she specifically assigned to us.

The betrayal ripped through my organs.

Camilla turned her head. Her blue eyes locked directly onto my face through the glass.

She did not gasp. She did not scramble to cover up. She did not attempt to stop.

She smiled at me.

She kept bouncing on his cock, never breaking eye contact with me. She wanted an audience. She wanted me to witness my own destruction.

Camilla Prescott, the girl whose homework I did every night, the girl who constantly took the only jewelry I owned because it looked cute on her, was taking my boyfriend.

Camilla dragged her manicured nails down Caleb’s sweaty chest. "You want me, don't you? Not her. You want me."

Caleb let out a raw, guttural groan. "Fuck... yes."

"Then show me."

He grabbed Camilla by the waist and flipped her onto her back. He trapped her beneath him on the couch cushions and slammed his cock back inside her tight pussy even harder.

Camilla moaned loud enough for me to clear hear every single word. "God, you are so much better than I thought you would be. Does Maddie even know what to do with a cock like this?"

Caleb did not answer her. He just fucked her harder, letting out animalistic grunts as their sweating bodies slapped together.

My fingers went numb. The cell phone slipped from my grip and crashed hard against the stone pathway.

The sharp crack of the shattering screen echoed over the music.

Caleb’s head whipped toward the window.

His brown eyes found my frozen, devastated face. He froze mid-thrust. The relentless grinding of his hips stuttered to a dead halt.

Camilla dug her nails deep into the skin of his bare back. "Don't you fucking pull out!"

A flash of guilt washed over Caleb's face. It looked like regret attempting to break through the lust.

But his body betrayed him.

He kept moving.

He could not stop. Camilla grabbed handfuls of his ass, dragging his cock deeper into her wet hole. She let out a piercing moan right at the glass, like a siren dragging a ship straight into the rocks.

Caleb let out a tight, strained grunt. "Fuck... I'm almost there... Shit... Camilla..."

Camilla kept her eyes drilling directly into mine. "Now. Right now."

Caleb’s entire muscular frame locked up. Every muscle in his back tensed.

For one singular, agonizing second, his face crumpled into a pathetic mixture of sexual pleasure and soul-crushing shame.

His lips moved to form a desperate apology. "I'm sorry."

Then, his hips snapped forward. He pushed his cock as deep as it could go.

He came.

He released his load right inside my best friend while maintaining direct eye contact with me.

I stood frozen on the pathway as my boyfriend finished inside my best friend with an apology dying on his lips.