Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24 Ungrateful

Kayla was completely grossed out, but she had to answer, “Well, Whitney’s group came in first for today’s ingredient search.”

Emily’s grip tightened, her eyes clouded with anger. “What did you say? Whitney came in first?”

Kayla winced, her whole body tensing up. “Yeah. Whitney hauled in a cart packed to the brim with ingredients. Word is, she’s going to share a lot of them with Elian and Nora’s group.”

As she spoke, Kayla pretended to show Emily something, using that as an excuse to snatch her arm back.

Emily looked over. Sure enough, that flashy cart was full of ingredients. Her eyes narrowed. “All of that belongs to Whitney?”

Kayla rubbed her wrist and nodded, still a bit shaken.

Emily’s expression grew even darker. Her mud–streaked eyes practically radiated malice.

That cart overflowing with ingredients made it obvious Whitney was taking first place tonight. Meanwhile, she had ended up dead last.

‘Whitney again. How could that bitch possibly have the skills to pull this off? How could she find a whole cart full of ingredients?‘ Emily fumed. ‘Absolutely impossible.’ Ever since Whitney showed up, Emily had always been the one with the upper hand. There was no way she could let Whitney turn the tables on her now.

Emily, pissed off and frustrated, spun around and hurried after Chase. “Chase,” she yelled.

Chase hadn’t gone far. When he heard Emily’s voice crack, he stopped!

He turned, and Emily threw herself into his arms. They were both covered in mud, so neither one could judge the other.

Chase kept a straight face and didn’t comfort her by patting her back like he usually did. “Why are you crying again?”

Emily didn’t notice how annoyed he was. She grabbed his collar, sniffled, and whispered, “Chase, it looks like Whitney’s group is going to be first tonight.”

Chase’s expression hardened at the news. His eyes grew dark as he suddenly looked up and shot a glare toward the meeting spot.

Emily’s loud shout had already caught everyone’s attention.

Henry strolled over, glanced at their empty hands, and chuckled, “Where are your

Chapter 24 Ungrateful

ingredients? It’s already time to gather. What, are you two taking one for the team and going hungry tonight?”

Henry was the most experienced person here. Even Chase couldn’t get away with his usual attitude when Henry teased him.

Bella sashayed over to Chase with a bag of ingredients and winked. “Chase, take this bag back with you. We have another day of filming tomorrow. You can’t go hungry.”

Then she glanced at Emily and added, “Honestly, let me stick with you tomorrow. At least I won’t drag you down. I can actually help.”

She was clearly throwing shade at Emily, basically saying they went hungry tonight because of her.

Emily pressed her lips together. Her face fell as she tightened her grip on Chase’s collar.

Chase stayed silent. His face was stormy. To him, Bella’s gesture wasn’t kindness at all. It was straight–up humiliation. He wondered, ‘Is she seriously trying to embarrass me? Like I need her charity to get through tonight?‘

Suddenly, an excited, high–pitched voice rang out from nearby. “Ryan, Whitney, you guys finally made it.”

Everyone turned to look.

Whitney and Ryan walked over in clean clothes. Whitney took the lead, and Ryan stayed close behind. The light stretched their shadows long across the ground. It was such a stunning sight, like something out of a painting.

Ryan’s looks were legendary. No one else could compare. And standing right beside him, Whitney was just as striking. She didn’t get overshadowed at all.

“Hey, look who’s here, our hero,” Henry called out, sounding genuinely impressed. He didn’t even stop to say hi to Chase and made a beeline straight for Whitney.

Hearing Henry’s voice, Whitney looked over.

Chase went stiff. His eyes locked onto her without blinking, hoping she would meet his stare.

Emily was still pressed against him and could feel every shift in his body. She could also clearly see the unreadable look in his eyes as he stared at Whitney. Her heart sank

Whitney indeed locked eyes with Chase.

For a second, Chase forgot how to breathe.

But then her gaze slipped past him, calm and cold, and landed on Henry. She looked at Chase like he was a complete stranger.

Chase slowly relaxed, but a strange mix of embarrassment and frustration started to

Chapter 24 Ungrateful

bubble up inside him.

Whitney greeted Henry with her usual calm, like nothing could faze her.

Then she started joking and laughing with Nora, Elian, and the rest of the group.

She grabbed seven or eight bags of ingredients from the cart and handed them over to Nora and Elian.

Chase’s hand clenched tight.

Back then, Whitney would have picked out the best ingredients and offered them to him to win his favor.

But now, she knew Chase’s group was at the bottom, so they would be going hungry tonight. Yet she would rather give those ingredients to people who were practically strangers.

‘Am I really nothing to her? I’m her brother! She is so ungrateful,‘ he fumed, his anger boiling over.

He yanked Emily off him, turned around, and walked away without looking back. Emily was shoved so hard that she almost fell. Her eyes turned bloodshot as she glared at Chase’s back. She clenched her fists, her gaze burning with hatred.

*****

Once everyone made it back safely, Darian gathered the group to announce the rankings.

But Chase and Emily, who came in dead last, still hadn’t shown up. The staff called out to them a few times, but there was no response.

Ryan stood with one hand in his pocket, his voice cool and lazy. “They are the last group. Even if they show up, it’s pointless.”

That was a straight–up burn. Everyone could see Ryan was not even trying to hide his dislike for Chase and Emily.

But honestly, coming in dead last and not finding a single thing made joining the final round pointless anyway.

So Darian clapped his hands, brushing off Chase and Emily entirely. Then he went straight into announcing the night’s rankings.

Whitney and Ryan’s group took first place without question. They got first pick of the stoves and all the seasonings they wanted.

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