Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 98

Chapter 98 The Boat vs. the Luxury Cruise

Elian and Nora forced out a couple of awkward laughs, but deep down, they were so mortified they could almost cry. “This is a total social death moment, they both thought, covering their faces and not daring to look at Ryan.

Meanwhile, Ryan strode over to Whitney, his deep, magnetic voice cool and pleasant. “Wild Beauty, when are you going to reel in the little fish you’ve already hooked?”

Whitney was stunned into silence. ‘Did I get up too fast? Am I seeing things? Nope, can’t do this. I seriously need to lie down for a bit longer, she told herself.

Whitney turned her head away, shut her eyes, and basically gave off a vibe of “If I can’t see it, it can’t bother me“.

Ryan was already right in front of her. Nora, ever the tactful one, let go of Whitney’s arm and slid over, leaving Ryan a spot. Ryan took a seat. His legs were so long, he looked almost comically out of place, like he had no clue where to put them. But Ryan didn’t seem bothered at all. He bent his knees, rested a hand on his knee, and turned to Whitney. “Want me to step in and deal with those exposés online?”

Whitney opened her eyes and met his gaze. His refined, dark eyes were full of lingering affection. “No need,” she replied, unfazed, shaking her head. “The Andersons‘ stunt is stupid.”

Yeah, it really was stupid. In her previous life, Ryan left the show early, and Emily, who kept trying to win his favor on camera, got torn apart by Ryan’s fans.

To protect Emily, the Andersons pulled the same trick, claiming Whitney stripped down to seduce Ryan, which supposedly made him leave the show overnight. And now, the Andersons were doing it all over again.

But in this life, things were different. For one thing, Whitney wasn’t going to endure it in silence as she did before. Ryan stayed for the whole show and was always with her. Anyone who watched the livestream would never believe such a stupid rumor.

Besides, the person leaking all this claimed to be a staff member. But every staff member had to sign a confidentiality agreement before setting foot on the island.

Darian was definitely already looking into who that staff member actually was. Once the truth came out, those rumors would naturally fall apart.

The real game–changer between this life and the previous was Ryan’s attitude toward her.

Back then, she and Ryan barely exchanged a few words over three days. When the Andersons pushed her out to take the fall for Emily, she couldn’t ask Ryan to speak up for her.

But now, if some fools still bought into the rumors, she’d got Ryan backing her up. This so–called leak didn’t have a chance of hurting her.

And then the Andersons tried to drag her down by making a big deal out of Chase bringing her onto the show. That was dumber. Wasn’t that throwing her real identity right at the media?

Chase was so protective of his precious sister that he’d put his own reputation on the line to get Emily on Darian’s show. So why would he bother bringing Whitney along?

Are they seriously saying Whitney seduced Chase to boost her own status? With the way Chase looked out for Emily, he’d definitely not be the type to let Whitney use him as a stepping stone.

So, why did Chase bring Whitney onto the show? What’s the real deal between them? Wasn’t that making people more curious?

With everyone online acting like Sherlock Holmes these days, it was only a matter of time before her connection to the Andersons got exposed. And when the truth came out, how would all those netizens who got fooled bite back? Especially, imagine if everyone found out she was the real heiress of the Anderson family. Then they’d realize that both times she was publicly disgraced, her own family was behind it.

All of that was for some foster sister with a shady relationship to them, and they went after their own sister like that. What kind of domino effect would that set off?

The Andersons‘ little tricks barely made a dent in her. Why bother getting Ryan involved in something so petty?

Like one comment online said: [She doesn’t need to explain herself. The truth speaks for itself.] There were plenty of sharp people online these days.

“Yeah, it’s definitely dumb,” Ryan agreed with a nod. “Since you’re so confident, Wild Beauty, I’ll be your quiet little fish and stay put on your hook.”

να

Chapter 98 The Boat vs. the Luxury Cruise

Whitney stared at him, completely at a loss for words. ‘Is he ever going to drop this joke?‘ she thought. ‘Seriously, how je he

a fish? Hey, what happened to your cold, mysterious vibe? Are you tossing your image out the window now?

The others all kept their eyes down, pretending they hadn’t seen the cold, mysterious guy totally drop his act.

It wasn’t until Henry cleared his throat and said warmly, “Whitney, though we haven’t known each other long, I like to think I‘ m pretty good at sizing people up. No matter what people are saying online, if you ever need anything, let me know.”

Elian and Nora, who had been playing dead, quickly turned their heads. “Yeah, we don’t care about the company’s warnings. Since we’ve decided Whitney’s our boss, if you ever need help, we’ll stand up for you!”

*If you need us to step up and expose Chase and Emily for teaming up with their family to gang up on you, we’re totally down for it!”

Whitney felt her heart grow warm. She could see that these guys genuinely wanted to help her. Seriously, they’d only known her for a few days, but they were already willing to be real with her and take on the company for her sake.

As for her so–called family, she spent two years trying to get close to them, but it never worked. Instead, they got used to taking her for granted, acting like everything she did was expected.

Whitney’s lips broke into a bright, fiery smile that lit up her whole face. She glanced at everyone, her eyes shining with genuine warmth. “Alright, if I ever need help, you can bet I’ll come to you.”

**

Two hours later, the cruise ship pulled into port. Whitney stood on the deck and saw that the boat that had picked up the Andersons‘ group earlier had docked as well. Chase held Emily’s hand, guiding her gently off the boat.

Camera flashes and microphones surrounded them from every direction. The whole area was swarming with reporters and journalists.

As soon as the boat docked, the crowd on the shore went wild, everyone swarming forward to snag the first exclusive. The reporters had started crowding around Emily and her group.

But then, everyone’s eyes were drawn to a giant cruise ship that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This thing was huge, a luxury cruise so fancy and jaw–dropping, nobody could look away.

In a flash, all the attention that had been on Emily was completely swept away. When Chase and Emily saw that jaw- dropping luxury cruise ship, their faces practically turned green with jealousy.

Emily’s face contorted so badly that her usual fake smile was barely holding together. Her eyes were filled with frustration and regret. She was pissed she didn’t get to board that luxury cruise.

And she was seriously regretting not holding onto Ryan harder and sticking by his side. Imagine if she’d been able to step off that luxury cruise with Ryan by her side. She would’ve been trending at the very top today.

But now, Emily gripped her skirt tightly, seething with frustration, but kept up her fake smile.

The cruise ship unfurled a long, lavish gangway that stretched all the way to the shore. The gangway was adorned with ornate, intricate designs.

Elian and Nora were the first ones to make their grand entrance down the gangway.

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