Chapter 4: The Traitors Appear
1303 Words
The crackling fire only added to the tension in the air. I gripped the knife handle tightly in my right hand, while my left hand reached out to touch Isabella’s trembling arm behind me.
Her hand clutched my shirt with such force, her breathing ragged. I could feel the fear radiating from her fingertips. Something in the darkness of the forest was watching us. And I wasn’t going to let anything touch her.
From the shadows of the trees, two figures emerged. Their footsteps were heavy, slow but certain, drawing closer to us. The stench of blood and mud preceded their presence. I squinted, trying to make out who they were. When the moonlight revealed their faces…
“Maria?” I murmured, not believing what I saw.
Isabella stepped beside me, her voice rising in shock, “Jaxon?”
I glanced at her. “You know him?”
Isabella’s face suddenly changed, as if she had just swallowed bile. Anger. Hatred. Disgust. All those emotions burned in her eyes as she stared at the man named Jaxon standing beside Maria.
“Jaxon Tate... Maria Lane, what are you doing here?” she snapped.
I had never seen Isabella’s face that tense before. And suddenly, the puzzle pieces in my mind began to click together. Maria, my ex-girlfriend. And Jaxon… Isabella’s fiancé. The two people we once loved, now standing together on this isolated island, looking… very close.
I gave a bitter laugh. “Ah… so this is how it is?”
Maria stared at me without a shred of guilt. She even leaned into Jaxon’s arm like a bloodthirsty leech clinging to its host. And Jaxon… that man didn’t even glance at Isabella. His eyes were fixed on the wine bottle stuck in the sand, right where we had been sitting earlier.
“Oh God, I’m so thirsty!” he exclaimed, chugging down our wine greedily, as if we were his servants partying without him.
I nearly lost it. But what truly made my blood boil was when he stepped toward the campfire where four lobsters were roasting.
No. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I moved faster than I could think, snatching all the lobsters from the fire just before Jaxon’s hand could reach them. His hand grabbed only empty air.
“You bastard!” Jaxon spat. “You’ve got food, and you won’t share? Do you know who I am?”
Isabella immediately stepped in front of me, arms outstretched, blocking Jaxon as he advanced.
“You cursed man!” she sobbed. “So this was all part of your vacation plan? Sneaking onto a cruise ship?”
“Hey!” Jaxon protested. “That’s my boat! I paid a fortune for—”
“For what? For cheating?” Isabella cut in sharply. “With this cheap woman?” She shot a glare at Maria, who was now acting like some pampered lady.
Their argument escalated quickly—accusations, blame, shouting. I didn’t care. I just didn’t want the food I worked so hard to collect stolen from me.
I tried to step away, to stay sane. But a soft, pleading voice from beside me pulled me back.
“Gabe…” Maria stood before me, her face pale and dirty. “Can you share some food with us? I’m starving. We were stranded on the far side, trekking through the forest all day without anything to eat.”
I shook my head, firmly. “Enough.”
My voice was cold and sharp.
“You already took everything from me, Maria. I carried your weight for five years—your food, your shelter, your every whim. And what did you do? You betrayed me… when I lost my job. You cheated—with a rich man who also happened to be your boss’s fiancé. That man?” I pointed at Jaxon with my knife. “You said I couldn’t give you a decent life. But look at you now. Starving. Stranded. Just like me. Maybe even worse. Go ask him.”
Maria bit her lip, her eyes glistening. But I knew those tears were fake. She was always manipulative.
“Gabe, I—”
“Don’t pretend to be sorry,” I cut her off.
Meanwhile, Isabella and Jaxon were still arguing. Jaxon accused her of working too much, leaving him feeling lonely. Isabella fired back that he was an attention-seeking leech. It all sounded like a buzzing mosquito in my ears. Irrelevant. All that mattered was salvaging this night… and Isabella.
Maria wasn’t done. She moved closer, trying to reach for my arm. “Please, Gabe… we can’t go on like this. I know I was wrong. But we’re stranded on this island together. Shouldn’t we cooperate and support each other?”
My fists clenched. My heart twisted. Cooperate? Support each other?
“I’m sorry, Maria. I’ve always worked alone. I supported you from one side, never the other way around. And all that support I gave… is gone with the wounds you left behind.”
“Gabriel!” She called my name in that sweet tone that used to tear down my walls whenever we fought. “You lost your job, didn’t you? I could ask Jaxon to give you a good job when we get out of here!”
Oh, now I was furious again. The audacity of this woman to praise her boyfriend while my pride and dignity were still bleeding because of them?
Jaxon Tate arrogantly approached me and offered me money in exchange for my food—just like Isabella had done earlier today. They really were a perfect match.
“Maria’s right. It’s not just a job you’ll get. I heard you were discharged from the special forces, right? I can even give you a luxury yacht if you’ll just get me some food tonight!”
I sneered. “It’s because of your damn yacht that we’re stranded here!”
Then I boldly ate my lobster right in front of him. He got angrier and lunged at me. With one swift move, I dodged and knocked him down into the sand.
And then something awkward happened. Isabella grabbed my arm and looked at me with compassion. “Give them my share.”
“What?”
Isabella lowered her gaze. “Please. They’re hungry too.”
“You changed your mind that fast?” I couldn’t understand this woman. But half the lobsters were hers. So I gave them to her. What she did with them was her choice.
The fire was burning lower as the night wore on. Eventually, we reached an unspoken agreement: Isabella and I would take the left side of the beach, Maria and Jaxon the right. But the tension still hung heavy in the air.
I gathered the supplies I’d found throughout the day—clothes, bags, leftover coconuts, even some alcohol. I knew it would all come in handy.
Isabella sat beside me, quietly eating the lobster I had given her. I couldn’t eat alone. She had given up her entire portion to those losers. Her voice was soft when she finally spoke.
“Thank you… for everything.”
I glanced at her. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks dirty, but her eyes… they were beautiful and full of pain.
“You don’t need to thank me.”
“But I must. If it weren’t for you, I might’ve lost my mind by now.”
I gave a lopsided smile. “We’ve both lost a lot.”
She chuckled softly. “Yeah. Especially our dignity.”
Silence fell between us again. Only the sound of crackling fire and the waves washing ashore remained. But before I could ask how she really felt about Jaxon, a scream echoed from the forest.
I stood up instantly. Isabella did too.
- Writer
