Chapter 2: Malibu Showdown

"Celebrity Chef Kitchen" was my idea of heaven: three days of cooking, eating, and live streaming from a Malibu villa. It was the hottest show of the season, and getting invited felt like winning the food lottery—calories and all.

I rolled my suitcase up the gravel path, sun on my shoulders, and stopped to take in the setup: long tables, white chairs, the Pacific sparkling in the distance, and golden-hour sunlight making everything glow like a movie set. Even the folding tables for catering looked ready for Instagram.

The guests arrived in style: Brooklyn Chase, the pop diva, stepped out of a black Escalade in oversized Gucci shades; Lucas Winters, top star, rocked designer jeans and a white tee that probably cost more than my monthly rent; Sophia Chen, influencer queen, was already posing for her assistant’s camera; and Jake Morrison, the bouncy idol, looked like a golden retriever in human form.

The livestream fired up instantly:

[Ahhh my Lucas’s variety show debut! So excited! Brooklyn is here too!!]

[OMG this cast is a snack—visuals for days!]

[Natalie Harper again? Can she drop the foodie act? I’m over it!]

Brooklyn spotted me and strode over, then pinched my cheeks. Her fingers were cold from her iced coffee, and my cheeks flushed even redder. “I’ve wanted to do this forever! They’re exactly how I imagined—so squishy!” Her laugh was warm, totally unlike her ice-queen music persona.

I reached up, cheeks burning. I’d maybe gone a little too hard on In-N-Out the last couple of days—so my face was extra round. Brooklyn was as friendly as her rep suggested, but still…

Sophia sauntered over, covering her mouth with a perfectly manicured hand as she giggled. “Natalie, don’t go wild this time, okay? I can’t handle your fans coming after me again.”

My smile froze. Sophia Chen: the influencer with millions of followers and a talent for going viral. We’d done a bakery promo livestream together—she’d nibbled a single blueberry, while I’d eaten three blueberry cheese danishes on camera. Afterward, the internet roasted me for being a try-hard foodie and compared my ‘real’ face to Sophia’s flawless posts. The hate was relentless. Sophia always came out the saint, while my fans got called bullies.

I shot Sophia a cold look. The livestream chat went wild:

[Natalie ate like a beast on that promo, what did she expect? Poor Sophia!]

[Female celebs gotta manage their weight—being a foodie isn’t cute.]

[Sophia’s got looks and brains; Natalie, stop leeching!]

[Just sayin’—Sophia’s thinner, but Natalie’s actually a bit prettier…]

Lucas walked over, his presence making the air buzz. “The activity’s starting.”