Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 36

Emily seemed not to expect Chase to suddenly turn his head.

Her eyes were red from crying and still glistened with tears. A flicker of panic and surprise crossed her face. She trembled slightly.

She quickly raised her hand and wiped her eyes hard. “Chase, I thought you were resting.”

She wiped her eyes so roughly that they turned even redder, and the hand with the IV needle started to bleed again.

“Why are you crying?” Chase reached out and pressed down on the hand with the IV needle.

Even though he had been frustrated with Emily over the past couple of days, she was still the sister he had doted on for more than ten years. He could not stand by and do nothing when he saw her crying so quietly and miserably.

“No, I’m not crying,” Emily said, her voice still shaky with emotion. She stubbornly kept her eyes wide open, insisting she was not crying.

Chase frowned. “If you are crying, let it out. Why bother hiding it?”

Emily bit down on her lower lip.

That was when Chase noticed that blood had seeped from beneath her lip. Some scabs had already formed. She had clearly been biting her lip for a long time. He reached out again and pressed the pad of his finger against her lip. “Let go.” Emily felt a jolt, as if his touch burned her. She timidly released her lip. Chase brushed his fingers over the spot where Emily had bitten herself. His frown deepened, and his face grew darker.

“I’m sorry, Chase,” Emily said, her eyes reddening again as she stubbornly held back her tears. “I know you always hate it when I cry. You probably think I am weak or useless. But I really didn’t mean to cry.”

So all this time, she had been holding back her tears and pretending she was not crying because of him. A bittersweet ache swelled in her chest.

Chase stared at her tear–streaked, vulnerable face for a long moment. Then he sighed and released her lip. “I don’t hate it when you cry.”

He pulled out a few tissues and gently wiped her face. “If you are good, I won’t scold you, okay?”

Emily let Chase wipe her tears away. She knew exactly how to look pitiful enough to pull on the Anderson family’s heartstrings. She nodded obediently.

Chapter 36 Decerge Whitney

She could see Chase’s attitude softening in his eyes. She softened her voice and began to apologize, “Chase, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I was being stubborn, trying to prove myself, and I ended up dragging you into this mess with me.

“If I had tried the mushroom stew first and made sure it was safe before letting you have any, you would not have gotten poisoned.”

Chase glanced at her. “It’s over now. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

“But Darian came to see us. Is it because the viewers found out we got poisoned and are now taking it out on the production team?” Emily lowered her gaze, looking guilty. “Yeah,” Chase said, his brow tightening as he thought about the look on Darian’s face earlier. He knew he would have to find a way to ease Darian’s concerns during the rest of the shoot.

Seeing Chase’s face darken, Emily quickly spoke up. “It’s all because I bit off more than I could chew. The viewers in the livestream must be dragging me through the mud right now.”

Her eyes reddened again as she continued. “Chase, I want to break into the scene and win over fans who genuinely like me for what I can do. Am I wrong for wanting that?” “You are overthinking it,” Chase said, gently patting her head. “Emily, you are so cute, so gentle and kind. The viewers would not have the heart to scold you.”

“No, that is not true. I am not as capable as Whitney, and I am nowhere near as impressive as she is. Right now, everyone online must be tearing me apart and showering Whitney with compliments,” Emily said, her voice trembling.

Tears welled up in her eyes again, and she hurriedly wiped them away. “I’m sorry, Chase. I feel so awful.”

Seeing Emily so nervous and on edge, Chase realized his earlier attitude must have really scared her. She was acting so cautious now, like she was afraid of setting him off again.

That made Chase feel a little guilty. His expression softened as he noticed how careful she was being. He pulled her into a gentle hug. “Come on. Do not let your mind run wild.”

As Emily lay in Chase’s arms, her expression froze.

‘This isn’t right,‘ she thought. ‘This isn’t what I want from him.‘

Normally, a few tears and a little hinting from her, and Chase would jump right in to defend her.

He would be the first to speak up and help clear her name about the whole mushroom stew poisoning mess. And the way he would do it was by shifting the blame onto Whitney.

Chapter 36 Deceive Whitney

She had dropped so many hints. She was practically screaming at him. And Chase told her to stop worrying?

Emily’s heart sank hard.

She could sense that Chase’s attitude toward Whitney was starting to change. If she did not act soon, Chase might really get snatched away by Whitney.

However, when Chase saw her crying, he actually thought about nudging the viewers to suspect Whitney had something to do with the poisonous mushrooms.

But whenever he tried to target Whitney over the past couple of days, he always ended up embarrassed or in trouble himself. He never got the upper hand.

Whitney had nearly coaxed him into revealing her true identity several times.

After getting burned so many times, he was finally starting to be more cautious.

In his eyes, Whitney only dared to be so bold and show off in front of him because she got close to Ryan and counted on his backing to pressure the Andersons into acknowledging her.

Chase had come up with an even better plan.

Since Whitney was so eager to be acknowledged as the Anderson heiress, he could use that to his advantage. He could convince her to keep helping him and Emily throughout the rest of the show by dangling that title in front of her.

Once the show wrapped up and Whitney asked for her status to be officially announced, he could say the rest of the Andersons were not willing to go public with it. Imagining Whitney wrapped around his finger again, with all her ingredients and cooking skills basically his to command, made Chase feel downright gleeful. He burst out laughing.

Emily, standing off to the side, felt her anxiety and unease grow even stronger.

J

Meanwhile, the production team had set up another task, and as usual, everyone was working hard for lunch.

Even though Whitney already had enough ingredients, she decided to bring Ryan along to help the others finish their tasks.

Most of the tasks on the island came with some level of risk.

And today’s groups were different from last night’s pairings.

As soon as the task was announced, Jason, Kayla, and Bella made it clear they wanted to stick together.

Henry, Elian, and Nora did not want to team up with them either, so when the proposal came up, they were happy to agree.

Chapter 36 Deceive Whitney

Those three were all part of Chase and Emily’s crew, and they would jump at any Chance to make things difficult for Whitney.

Whitney did not think much of them either. There was no way she was going to help.

With Whitney’s help, Henry, Elian, and Nora managed to get through the task without any real danger.

And while they were at it, they had plenty of hilarious moments that made the livestream more fun to watch.

In the end, the three of them picked up their ingredients from Darian without a hitch.

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