Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51 Emily Goes Overboard

Chapter 51 Emily Goes Overboard

Everything Emily wanted was right there within reach. There was no way she was backing down now. She shot Kayla a look. Kayla caught on immediately. She walked to the side of the boat, glanced down at the two lifeguards, and said, “You can head back. We’ll return on our own once we’re done fishing.”

The lifeguards scowled, their voices sharp with frustration. “I’m not asking. You need to get back to the safe zone right now. Kayla sounded annoyed. “That’s none of your business. We’ll head back once we’ve caught enough.”

“You can fish all you want inside the safe zone. It’s way too dangerous out here. Turn the boat around now,” the lifeguards snapped, clearly done with the back–and–forth.

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Emily already said it’s perfectly safe. The weather’s gorgeous, the sea’s calm. Nothing’s going to happen. She’s out here all the time. You really think she’d put us in danger?”

At that, a small smirk flickered across Emily’s lips, and she straightened up a little.

The lifeguards‘ faces darkened. They were certified professionals with years of real sailing experience.

‘Are you serious right now? We’re the experts here. Who actually knows what they’re talking about?‘ they thought./

One of them raised the megaphone and barked, “I’m ordering you to turn back right now, no excuses! What you’re doing is against the competition rules. Any fish you catch out here won’t count.”

Kayla’s expression faltered, and she turned to look at Emily.

Emily felt a spark of irritation at the lifeguards‘ commanding, rough tone.

She was always the center of attention, always the one people fell over themselves to please. And now these two had the nerve to yell at her.

But honestly, that worked in her favor. The more aggressive the lifeguards got, the more her team would look like the victims, and the more the livestream audience would rush to defend them.

All she had to do was nudge things in the right direction.

Emily said with a gentle smile, “Look, Darian said the competition is all about total catch weight. He reminded us not to leave the safe zone, sure, but he never said fish caught outside wouldn’t count.

“So how exactly are we breaking the rules?”

The two lifeguards exchanged a glance, momentarily at a loss.

Emily kept her smile perfectly in place, her reasoning smooth as she defended her team. “You’re suddenly making up new rules and saying the fish we caught won’t count.

“Should I assume the production team is playing favorites with Ryan’s group? Are you worried we might actually win this thing, so you’re trying to hand Ryan’s team an advantage?”

The lifeguards‘ faces dropped.

Back in the director’s tent, Darian was watching this unfold, and Emily’s words sent him over the edge. He ripped off his headphones and hurled them across the room.

He wheeled on Cohen. “Did you hear that? She’s out there breaking the rules, and somehow I’m the bad guy for trying to stop her? Now I’m playing favorites with Ryan?”

Cohen was the one who’d brought the Anderson siblings onto the show in the first place, and now that they were causing chaos left and right, he was dying of embarrassment.

He’d always seen Emily as gentle and well–behaved, but ever since she set foot on this show, she’d done nothing but stir up

trouble.

He felt sick about it, and with Darian absolutely fuming, all he could do was scramble to calm him down and nod along with whatever Darian said.

On the boat, Chase could already tell Emily’s words were about to blow up into something ugly.

They were already in the wrong for leaving the safe zone, and now Emily was questioning the production team’s fairness and dragging Ryan into the mess on top of it.

Emily knew better than anyone how unhinged Ryan’s fans could get.

Chase thought, ‘If we end up on Darian’s bad side, with days of filming still ahead, who knows what kind of hell he’d put us through?

Chapter 51 Emily Goes Overboard

‘And with so many artists under Anderson Group, how would any of them ever land a spot on Darian’s shows again?

Chase frowned, stepped forward, and grabbed Emily’s arm, pulling her behind him.

He looked up at the lifeguards, whose faces were dark with anger, and said, “That was our mistake for causing so much concern. We’ll pull up the net and head back right away.”

“Chase.” Emily moved to protest, her voice urgent.

At this pace, they could easily haul in hundreds of pounds today. She was certain she could outshine Whitney and push her into the background. There was no way she’d walk away from that.

But before the words could leave her mouth, Chase shot her a fierce glare, his eyes blazing with warning.

Emily pressed her lips together, visibly unwilling, but finally nodded. “Alright. Fine.”

Chase kept his eyes locked on her. “Then what are you waiting for? Go pull up the net.”

Emily bit her lip, her eyes reddening as she met Chase’s stare for a few long seconds.

When it became clear he wasn’t budging, she grudgingly called a few helpers over and shuffled toward the net, her steps small and reluctant.

Even though the net hadn’t been down for long, the moment they started hauling it up, it was obvious this haul was nothing like the last one.

Everyone’s faces lit up. “Whoa, this second net is even heavier!”

Emily was buzzing with excitement, but that only made the bitterness of having to stop cut deeper. If they could’ve kept the net in the water a little longer, they’d have pulled in hundreds of pounds of fish.

‘This is the production team’s fault. Why did they have to stick their noses in? she fumed silently.

The more Emily stewed, the more frustrated she got, and she started yanking at the net with extra force.

As the net rose inch by inch, they could see all kinds of sea creatures thrashing inside, desperate to escape.

Emily was so caught up in the moment she didn’t even care how soaked the net was or how badly it reeked of fish.

She tightened her grip, fingers digging in, praying this haul would crack a hundred pounds.

If it did, even if they had to turn back to the safe zone right now, her victory in this fishing contest was all but guaranteed.

Every ounce of Emily’s focus was locked onto that enormous net.

Kayla suddenly shrieked, “Emily! Oh no, that’s a massive wave.

The others helping with the net let go in panic, staring at the oncoming swell, their faces draining of color.

Kayla’s scream made Emily whip her head around in shock. At that exact moment, the others released the net, and as Emily turned back, she was caught completely off guard.

With most of the hands gone, the net suddenly slipped from her grip and plunged into the water. Thrown off balance, she couldn’t stop herself. A loud splash rang out as she tumbled straight into the sea.

“Emily! She’s overboard,” Kayla shouted, her voice spiking with panic. She spun around in time to see Emily topple into the

water.

The others on the boat stood frozen in terror, their attention swallowed entirely by the massive wave rolling closer and

closer.

The lifeguards were shouting at the top of their lungs for them to get moving. They were about to abandon the net and speed off when someone screamed that Emily had fallen into the sea.

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