Chapter 415: Taboo Harem Chat

She had been recounting the night —

glowing, laughing about what had been happening with her time with him and living with him, telling them how mush relief she felt when Phei had carried Emily like she was made of glass, how he had looked at her and Sierra like they were the only things that mattered

— when the

roar

had torn through the night.

"HAROLD!"

The sound had hit the

Whitmore Estate

like a physical wave — a roar so deep and sudden it felt like the sky itself had screamed his name in rage. Windows rattled in their frames.

Her father’s glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the hardwood like a gunshot in church.

Her mother’s face went pale in a way

Maddie

had never seen before — and this was a woman who’d once caught her husband balls-deep in the mistress at their own dinner party and responded by calmly pouring vintage Bordeaux

over the woman’s head

, finishing dessert, and then asking the staff to escort the

"guest"

to the curb.

Since that moment, the order had been simple:

stay inside

.

And

Maddie

had stayed.

Four days now. Four days of this bedroom, these pillows, these snacks she kept opening and not eating because her stomach had turned into a clenched fist that refused to unclench.

Her parents had told her to never come out but they had this time — partly for her safety, partly for reasons they hadn’t explained, and partly for something else.

Something she caught in the pauses between their sentences, in the way her father’s jaw worked when he thought she wasn’t looking, in the way her mother had started making phone calls in rooms

Maddie

wasn’t allowed to enter anymore.

She didn’t know what that third reason was anymore.

She’d stopped asking on day two. The answers had gotten vaguer each time —

"It’s complicated, baby."

"

We’re figuring things out."

"Just trust us."

— and

Maddie

had learned years ago that when her parents, the two most

transparent

people in all of

Paradise

, started speaking in code, the truth was too heavy for casual delivery.

It was the kind of truth that arrived in body bags or bank transfers or both.

Maddie

rolled over, staring at the ceiling like it owed her answers. Her phone buzzed again on the pillow beside her.

The harem group chat — the private one they had created— was still alive though.

Despite the lockdowns, despite the silence, despite the fear that had settled over every

Main Paradise

household like a shroud made of cashmere and dread, the chat never stopped.

Phei

was there every day. Calm. Steady. The anchor that kept the whole thing from unravelling into full-blown panic.

She scrolled up through the day’s messages.

Melissa:

How are you two holding up? Eating? Sleeping?

Sierra:

Are

YOU

okay?? You’re asking about us when you literally fled your house through a portal four days ago??

Maddie:

Sierra has a point. Melissa. Babe. YOU left. With Phei. Through actual darkness. How are the girls and you, Oh Leader of the Harem?

Maddie wouldn’t miss that tease.

Melissa:

We’re fine. All of us. Safe.

Melissa took the tittle very well as presented.

Delilah:

More than fine honestly

Delilah:

I’m living with Phei againnnnn🥰🥰😍😘

Maddie:

Awwww, she’s sooo adorable. Tell me more gal

Delilah:

Like actually living with him. Waking up in the same house. Having breakfast together. It’s been four days and I keep expecting someone to ruin it

Sierra:

Don’t manifest that

Delilah:

I’m not manifesting. I’m just saying. The last time I lived under the same roof as him we were nothing to each other and Harold was... Harold. Now it’s just us and it’s quiet and nobody’s screaming at 3am and I can hear his heartbeat right on my easr as we sleep and sometimes I just lie there and listen to him breathe and I know that sounds creepy but I don’t care

Maddie:

That’s not creepy. That’s tragic and beautiful and I hate you for getting to do it while I’m trapped in this bedroom eating stale crisps like a sad

raccoon

Sierra:

Delilah, I’m glad you’re safe. I mean that.

Delilah:

❤️

Maddie:

Okay but can we talk about the elephant in the chat

Sierra:

Which elephant. There are several.

Maddie:

MELISSA.

Melissa:

What about me?

Maddie:

You left with Phei. You live with Phei now. Your arm was around his waist when you walked through a literal portal two times now to another dimension or whatever the hell that was

Sierra:

What Maddie is trying to say with her usual grace is... Melissa. You’ve been "Phei’s aunt." His "guardian." The woman who "raised him." And now you’re living with him. In his space. And before all that, it’s crazy we only found about it when he awakened... you left your husband for him.

Melissa:

Harold was

never

my husband in any way that mattered.

Maddie:

That’s not what we’re asking, and you know it

Maddie:

Since the way he said your name different while he was talking about you, from everyone else’s

Melissa:

...

Delilah:

They’re not wrong, Mom

Melissa:

Delilah.

Delilah:

I live here now. I have eyes. And ears. You make out right in my eyes and fuck while I hear you guys

Maddie:

DELILAH 💀💀💀

Sierra:

Oh my God

Melissa:

I am going to kill every single one of you

Maddie:

You love us

Sierra:

She does

Delilah:

She really does

Melissa:

I tolerate you. There’s a difference. A vast, oceanic difference.

Maddie:

Sure. And Phei

"tolerates"

you too. Loudly with orgasms while you scream his name for poor Delilah

Melissa:

MADELINE WHITMORE.

Maddie:

Full government name. I’m shaking.

Sierra:

😂

Delilah:

For what it’s worth, I’m happy about it. About all of it. About you and him. About being here. About not being in that house anymore. I spent seventeen years being Harold’s daughter and four days being just...

Delilah.

Living with the people I actually want to be near. It’s the most normal I’ve felt in my life and nothing about this situation is

normal and I don’t care

Sierra:

🥺

Maddie:

Okay now I’m actually crying. Thanks Delilah.

Melissa:

... come here, baby.

Delilah:

I’m sitting right next to you. Do not make it weird mom

Melissa:

I know. Come closer.

Maddie

stared at the screen. The tears were real — hot, sudden, spilling over before she could stop them. Not from sadness. From the specific, aching jealousy of a girl trapped in a gilded cage watching the people she loved build something warm and filthy and perfect without her.

The chat went quiet for a few minutes. Then —

Phei:

Emily woke up three days, I forgot to tell y’all. She smiled. Asked about all of you.

Phei:

She’s okay. Her parents are hovering but she’s okay.

Phei:

Stay safe. Both of you. I’ll come for you when it’s time.

Maddie

stared at the last line, thumb hovering over the screen. She could almost hear his voice — low, certain, carrying that new weight that made her stomach flutter and her knees go liquid at the same time.

I’ll come for you when it’s time.

Not if.

When.

Not a promise — a fact. The way the sun didn’t promise to rise. It just did.

She typed back —

Maddie:

You better. I’m running out of snacks and sanity.

Phei:

I know.

Maddie:

That’s not reassuring!!

Phei:

😏

Maddie:

DID YOU JUST EMOJI ME

Sierra:

He did. He absolutely did. Screenshot saved.

Phei:

Good day.

Maddie:

PHEI

Sierra:

He’s gone isn’t he

Maddie:

HE’S GONE.

Sierra:

Typical.

Maddie

sighed — long, dramatic, a sigh that deserved an audience and received only a pillow.

The

Chaos Demoness

had been reduced to this:

pouting, refusing food, waiting for a boy who had become something the entire world was starting to fear.

She pressed the phone against her chest with his picture wallpaper. Closed her eyes. Let the warmth of the screen substitute for the warmth of the body she wanted pressed against hers — skin on skin, breath on neck, cock deep enough to make her forget the cage she was in.

And somewhere in the distance, beyond the locked gates and the silent roads of

Main Paradise

, the great families were still moving.

Quietly.

Carefully.

Like pieces on a board that had suddenly become far more dangerous than anyone had realised — and far more deliciously fucked.