Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48 Another Round of Comparisons

There were plenty of people in the livestream who actually knew about fishing. [Is Emily sure she knows how to fish?]

[Didn’t she say this was her specialty? Then why can’t she even cast a net?]

[They’re not even at the right distance for trawling.]

[Watching her handle that net, you can tell she has no idea what she’s doing.]

[Meanwhile, on the other stream, they’re building a raft from scratch, making their own harpoons and nets, and the fish are practically jumping into their laps.

[They’re hauling them in without breaking a sweat. And over here…]

[They’re fumbling with the trawl net, and it takes three or four people to get the thing in the water.]

[Where does all that confidence even come from? She was putting on a whole performance in front of Whitney, acting like she was doing her some huge favor.] [If Emily saw what was happening on the other stream, she’d probably run crying straight into her brother’s arms.]

The viewer count in Emily’s livestream kept climbing steadily. But honestly, most people were only there to watch her humiliate herself.

She didn’t disappoint. After cruising around with the net trailing behind for about half an hour, she started getting a little anxious.

She remembered that when she’d gone out to sea with her friends, they’d leave the net in for at least three or four hours before hauling it up.

But this area was nothing like those open–water trips. The safe zone was fairly limited, so it shouldn’t take nearly that long.

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She decided to check the net to see if any fish had found their way in, to confirm she was on the right track. If there were some, she’d let the next one sit a bit longer.

Emily did the math in her head, then decisively called everyone over to help pull the net in. It took ages, but they finally managed to drag that enormous, ridiculously long net

aboard.

With every foot they hauled in and saw nothing but empty netting, everyone’s spirits

sank a little lower.

Emily was panicking inside, but she kept her composure. “No worries, this is totally normal. The fish are usually all concentrated at the bottom. Keep pulling.”

When the entire net was finally on deck, all they had to show for it was a boat drenched in seawater and absolutely nothing else.

Chapter 48 Another Round of Comparisons

Everyone’s faces went rigid. They glanced at the empty net, then at Emily, whose expression was growing darker by the second.

The awkward silence was so thick you could choke on it. No one knew how to recover from that kind of embarrassment.

It didn’t take a genius to imagine how brutal the chat was right about now.

The silence stretched on, nearly unbearable.

After what felt like an eternity, Chase cleared his throat and gave Emily’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it.

“Coming up empty on the first net is totally normal. Trawling’s always a gamble. Even seasoned fishermen don’t pull in a full haul every time.”

He wasn’t wrong. No fisherman could guarantee a catch with every cast.

Emily forced a smile, though her eyes were already turning red and watery. “Yeah. Maybe our luck’s off today.

“Plus, this net is massive, and we’re stuck circling inside the safe zone. That has to be throwing things off.”

She ran through the excuses in her head, then clenched her fists and put on a determined face. “It’s fine. Let’s go again! This time, we’re definitely going to nail it.” The others jumped in immediately, hyping her up and insisting Emily’s next net was bound to bring in a monster haul, hundreds of pounds, no question.

But the harder they hyped, the harder reality hit. The second and third nets all came up empty.

There was nothing, not a single fish or shrimp. Every attempt was a complete bust,

Her little fan club had run out of things to say. They’d gone completely numb. If Emily weren’t the Anderson family’s princess, they’d probably be tearing into her right now.

At first, Chase kept coming up with excuses for Emily. But by the time they hauled in the third and fourth empty nets, his expression had turned downright grim. He didn’t say a word.

Emily’s face grew uglier by the minute, her eyes bloodshot with stress. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides. She was wound so tight it was a miracle she hadn’t

snapped.

‘No way. This can’t be happening. How am I coming up empty?‘ Emily thought, stunned. Every time she went out to sea with her friends, they’d always pull in at least a few dozen pounds of fish.

She thought, ‘Why? When it is my turn, nothing goes right. Maybe this whole stretch of water is empty. The show’s setting me up. They have to be.

Chapter 48 Another Round of Comparisons

Emily bit her lip, her eyes red and her voice thick with emotion. “I’m not feeling well. I’m going to rest for a bit.”

The little sailboat had a cabin big enough for four people. Once Emily slipped inside, the drone lost sight of her completely.

Off camera, Emily pulled out the hidden phone she kept strapped to her thigh beneath her skirt.

She couldn’t wait to check whether Whitney was struggling as badly, coming up empty, and getting dragged in the comments.

In Emily’s eyes, Whitney was an even bigger joke. The three fishing tools she’d picked were basically worthless.

Emily was hoping Whitney’s livestream would be flooded with trolls and trash talk.

But the moment she opened Whitney’s stream, the phone slipped right out of her hand and clattered at her feet.

Emily stood there rigid, not even bothering to bend down and pick it up. She stared down at the screen from above, her gaze locked onto it.

On the livestream, Whitney looked like she ruled the sea. Her hair was slick with water, a few inky strands clinging to her cheeks.

When she lifted those sly, upturned eyes toward the camera, her bold, striking face was so vivid and magnetic it felt like she could pull anyone in through the screen.

She was crouched at the edge of the raft, her fingers working the fishing lines like magic, twisting and looping them around her fingertips with a skill that made it look effortless.

Seven enormous buckets, each one big enough to fit Whitney herself, floated behind the raft in a neat row, bobbing along as she made her way toward the shore. And inside those buckets were overflowing with every kind of seafood imaginable, packed so full it looked like she’d cleaned out the entire ocean.

The chat was erupting with praise, her fans flooding the screen with comments like [ Wild Beauty, you’re a goddess,] and [She’s unstoppable,] all the classic over–the–top

adoration.

It was dramatic and maybe a little ridiculous, but it left no doubt about how much the viewers worshipped her.

Emily’s face twisted with uncontrollable fury, her eyes blazing with pure hatred. Emily seethed inside, ‘Why is it always Whitney? That witch is my curse. She exists to ruin my life.’

Emily could picture it already. People online would make split–screen edits, Whitney’s

Chapter 48 Another Round of Comparisons

triumph next to her own humiliation, to make a mockery of her.

Everyone would be singing Whitney’s praises, tearing Emily down, saying she couldn’t hold a candle to Whitney. This is not what I signed up for, Emily thought bitterly.

She was falling apart. Her nails dug so deep into her skin that bloody trails appeared, but she didn’t feel a thing.

Chase’s voice called from outside the cabin. “Emily, are you feeling any better?”

Emily jolted back to reality. Instinctively, she bent down, grabbed her phone, turned off the screen, and tucked it back under her skirt.

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