Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97 A Fish Caught on Whitney’s Hook

Whitney didn’t bother to open the messages from the Andersons. After exchanging contact info with everyone, she put her phone away.

She didn’t need to check, but already knew what the Andersons were sending her. It was only a flood of insults after they watched the livestream and saw her supposedly bullying Emily.

Whitney casually glanced at the messages. The ones who sent the most messages were Paula, the high–society matriarch, and Eric, the fifth brother.

Paula had been sending her dozens of messages every day since the second day of filming, the day Whitney traveled back, in time and refused to serve Emily and Chase. Some were nasty texts, others were voice messages cursing her out.

As for Eric, he’d been messaging her since day one, acting all high and mighty, giving orders as if he were in charge. Later on, it devolved into insults and threats.

If this had been before, seeing all those insults and accusations would’ve made her feel awful. But now, she didn’t feel angry anymore. She only felt bored by them all. The Andersons were boring, and the old Whitney was boring, too. She tapped through the messages, her eyes landing on the last one from Eric, sent at nine this morning.

[Whitney, congrats on using Emily as your stepping sto

you a big surprise when you get off the island.

Every word was dripping with malice. Whitne

to shine on the show. As your fifth brother, I’ll make sure to give cry from being too touched, little sis.]

out a cold laugh, not bothering to reply. She blocked and erased all the Andersons from her contacts. Right after she finished, footsteps sounded behind her.

It was Nora and Elian, both looking anxious. “Whitney, you’re here…” They jogged over. Henry, who was always so calm and steady, was right behind them and looked troubled now.

Whitney set her phone down. “What’s up?”

“Elian and I were playing darts over there, and then… Elian got a call, and I did too,” Nora said, biting her lip, her cheeks puffed up.

Whitney ruffled Nora’s hair, then glanced at Elian. “Was it your company calling?”

Both of their eyes went wide. “How did you know?”

“It’s written all over your faces,” Whitney said. Bringing up that call made them look so annoyed and frustrated. Whitney could already guess exactly what their company had said.

Whitney cut straight to the point. “So, your agent told you not to hang out with me, right?”

Both of them stared at her, eyes wider. “Damn! Whitney, you’re like a mind reader. Are you secretly some fortune–teller? Or maybe a supernatural boss from those fantasy novels?”

Whitney was speechless. ‘Seriously, wake up, it’s the twenty–first century. Do they really not realize everything they’re thinking is written all over their faces?‘ Whitney thought.

Nora plopped down next to Whitney, pouting, “Whitney, once your sidekick, always your sidekick. Though I’m off the show, I‘ m still loyal to you, no matter what!”

Elian quickly raised his hand. “Me too. Because the company says we can’t hang out with you, we’re supposed to go along with it? Please, that’s ridiculous.”

“Whitney,” Nora pouted, cheeks puffed up in frustration. “The Andersons are seriously too much. You used to live with them, right? You’d think they’d have some feelings for you, but instead they’re out here trying to mess you up!”

If their agency hadn’t called and said Whitney’s reputation was shaky and she’d obviously offended the Andersons, they wouldn’t be thinking about keeping their distance.

Now that they’re off the show, their agency told them to lay low and not get too close to Whitney for a while, in case the Andersons decided to throw shade their way.

Honestly, they probably still had no idea about all the drama blowing up online. They hadn’t touched their phones for seven days, with no internet access at all, so they couldn’t check out what people were saying about them online after the livestream.

Usually, as soon as they got their phones back, they’d be checking out the online comments.

Successfully unlocked!

1. All they could think about was exploring Justry later.

But Ryan’s luxury cruise ship showed up and to every corner, soaking up the experience, and th

As for Henry, he really didn’t care about online opinions. The moment he got his phone and saw the cruise ship, his first

Chapter 97 A Fish Caught on Whitney’s Hook

thought was to record a video for his daughter. He didn’t bother with the online buzz.

After hanging up, they immediately grabbed their phones and searched online. They quickly discovered that during the show’s filming, a bunch of scandals about Whitney had surfaced online.

Though those rumors were quickly debunked, they still left a bad impression on some outsiders. Especially when people claiming to be staff from the show started leaking stuff, Whitney got blamed for things she didn’t do.

After the livestream ended, folks were still calling Whitney an ungrateful backstabber, saying she used Chase to climb up and then kicked him to the curb. It was clearly the Andersons behind all this, trying to cover for Emily. That was disgusting.

Nora and Elian were absolutely furious. “And now these so–called staff are leaking crap, saying you tried to seduce Ryan by taking your clothes off! And that you’re chasing after him, hoping to marry into a rich family.”

“That’s ridiculous! As if Whitney needs to seduce anyone.”

“Seriously, if Whitney wiggles her finger, Ryan would be at her feet in a second!”

They pointed at those trashy posts on their phones, honestly angrier than Whitney herself. These past few days, they’d seen everything with their own eyes. Ryan, basically a living legend, was the one chasing after Whitney, not the other way around.

But Whitney’s attitude toward Ryan was way more normal than his was toward her. They’d sooner believe Ryan was the one trying to seduce Whitney than the other way around.

The more they ranted, the more hyped they got. They were dying to log into their main accounts and go a hundred rounds with those dumb haters. They were ranting away, their mouths

running nonstop.

Suddenly, a wave of icy energy swept over them. Both of them felt chills crawl up their spines, instinctively shrinking their necks and going silent. Then, stiffly, they turned their heads toward the source of that cold aura.

And there he was. Ryan, slender as a model, stepped onto the deck with those long, elegant legs.

The sea breeze whipped through his brown hair, making his impossibly gorgeous face stand out, so stunning that it looked like he’d stepped out of a dream. His expression was stone–cold, giving nothing away.

Elian and Nora both gulped and quickly covered their mouths. ‘He didn’t hear us, did he?” They both freaked out inside.’ Ryan didn’t catch our wild ranting just now, right? Say he didn’t.’

They were mouthing off, talking big because they were pissed, nothing serious. But who knew Ryan would walk right in and catch them in the act?

“Wild Beauty doesn’t need to seduce me,” Ryan said. “I’m a little fish caught on Whitney’s hook.”

His voice was clear and magnetic, carried by the sea breeze, lingering in the air. There was a distinct, enchanting allure to it, almost hypnotic.

Subscribed