Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54 The Cold and Ruthless Whitney

Chapter 54 The Cold and Ruthless Whitney

The crew descended into chaos.

Darjan grabbed a megaphone and barked orders for the production team to contact professional rescue immediately.

If only he knew how to swim, he’d be in the water himself trying to save the lifeguards.

Whitney stood inside the production booth, staring at the screen without blinking.

Because the lifeguards had been abandoned, the drone that had been following Chase’s livestream was now maneuvered to hover directly above them.

Cohen, the assistant director, was speaking through the drone, trying repeatedly to reassure the lifeguards and asking how much longer they could hold out.

The two lifeguards were true professionals. They were desperate to save themselves.

But after being in the ocean for so long, and after being thrown around by one massive wave after another, their strength was almost completely drained.

el

The jet skis they had ridden out on had long since been swept away by the wind and waves, lost somewhere in the churning sea.

All they could do was rely on sheer willpower and years of maritime experience to keep themselves as calm as possible. “Hey. Respond. Can you still hold on? Rescue is coming. It’s coming right now,” Cohen shouted into the walkie–talkie, speaking to the lifeguards through the drone.

But from the drone’s feed, there was only the roaring wind and the crashing waves. No human voices came back. Cohen had no idea whether the lifeguards had heard him. He was frantic, practically bouncing in place.

Whitney’s ears were ringing from all the shouting. She cut Cohen off, her voice cool and flat. “Stop yelling. They can’t respond to you. The waves are building fast. They won’t last until rescue gets here.”

Cohen turned around, seemingly only now noticing a guest had entered the production booth.

He fiddled with his walkie–talkie and waved his hand impatiently in Whitney’s direction. “Go. We’re busy here. Don’t get in

the way.”

Whitney didn’t move. Her eyes stayed locked on the screen, watching the two lifeguards get swallowed by another massive

wave.

Her gaze darkened slightly. “Give me the keys to the jet skis on shore.”

Cohen was completely fed up now. He screwed up his face and snapped at her, “Whitney, have a heart, will you? The production team is in chaos right now. People might actually die. And you’re here bothering me?”

Whitney’s eyes narrowed to slits, flashing with icy light. She reached out and grabbed Cohen by the collar. “The keys. Now.” She understood the crew was panicking over the emergency. But she wasn’t about to waste time explaining herself. When her tone dropped, Cohen felt her gaze coil around his throat like a serpent flicking its scarlet tongue. He was furious, yet the force of her presence terrified him.

Then a voice cold as shattered ice spoke from behind him. “Give her the keys.”

Cohen whipped his head around. When he saw Ryan’s face, godlike and terrifying, he swallowed hard and fumbled out all the jet ski keys with shaking hands.

Whitney picked up one of the keys, then strode out of the control room without another word.

Cohen shouted behind Whitney, “With the waves this rough, what do you need a jet ski key for?” He watched her walk away, a knot of unease forming in his gut.

He was about to go after her, hoping she wouldn’t cause more trouble for the production at a time like this. But a long, elegant hand swept past his eyes and plucked another key from his grasp.

“Mr. Pierce?” Cohen froze, completely stunned. He thought, ‘What on earth are they planning?‘

[What’s Whitney doing with a jet ski key?]

[Cohen really can’t stand her, huh? With all this chaos, she’s still getting in the way. Seriously, how clueless can she get?] [Does she think she’s won because she caught all those fish, so now she wants to party on the water?]

[People could die. Those lifeguards risked their lives to rescue someone. How can Whitney think about having fun right now?]

Chapter 54 The Cold and Ruthless Whitney

[You all heard how cold she sounded talking to Cohen. She doesn’t care if those lifeguards live or die.]

The drones followed the cast. Whitney had entered the production booth, so the drone couldn’t follow inside and simply circled overhead. But she had left her mic on.

So all her back–and–forth with Cohen got streamed straight to the audience through the drone.

Without any footage to see, this gave the trolls Brandon had planted plenty of room to operate.

Brandon had watched that scene unfold on the boat.

Emily had been sobbing and screaming for Chase to steer back to safe waters, completely indifferent to whether the lifeguards lived or died.

Even though Brandon had already ordered his team to spin the narrative and do damage control for Emily, there would stily be viewers who refused to accept that kind of behavior.

So Brandon made a swift decision. He would shift the target to Whitney. If he could drag Whitney into the spotlight and drown out the hate aimed at Emily, Emily would take less heat.

It did not matter how badly Whitney got torn apart online. He thought he could always buy her a few luxury items when she got back and call it compensation.

Completely unaware of the storm raging in the livestream comments or how the trolls were manipulating public opinion, Whitney had no time to worry about any of it. She strode toward the shore, glancing at the number on the key.

Once she reached the water, she immediately called over Nora and Elian to haul the raft over.

Whitney located the jet ski she needed and quickly lashed the raft to it with fishing line. Then she swung herself onto the seat, turned the key, and shot out across the water, towing the raft behind her.

“Whitney. Whitney. What the hell are you doing?” Darian shouted, his voice tight with panic.

He was standing by the shore, totally stressed out, trying to coordinate with the rescue team over the walkie–talkie. Suddenly, the thunderous roar of a jet ski engine drowned out everything else.

Darian spun around and saw Whitney tearing across the waves on the jet ski, flying over the water at breakneck speed.

He was shouting himself hoarse. “Come back, Whitney. The water isn’t safe right now. Even the safe zone is dangerous. Come back.”

But Whitney had already sped off into the distance, shrinking to a tiny dot on the horizon. She was heading straight for the lifeguards, straight into the heart of the towering swells.

Darian’s face went ghostly pale in an instant. He thought, ‘Is Whitney going to rescue the lifeguards? How is a girl supposed to save anyone out there?‘

The next second, another jet ski roared to life.

Darian’s heart seized. He whipped his head around and caught only a blur, a figure streaking like lightning in Whitney’s wake. “Holy shit. Ryan, have you lost your mind? What are you doing?”

Darian was stunned, his legs buckling beneath him. He screamed at the top of his lungs. “Stop him. Someone stop Ryan. They’re going after the lifeguards.”

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