Chapter 3: Trending for the Wrong Reasons

The next morning, Tyler was trending online.

#TylerGrant Deeply Devoted#

#TylerGrant Making Up With Girlfriend#

#TylerGrant Important Person#

I scrolled through the posts under the hashtags—almost all shipping Tyler and Autumn.

[I knew Tyler wasn’t heartless. He’s definitely making up for deleting Autumn last time.]

[Anyone know how far Tyler and Autumn have gotten? They’re so low-key, I’m dying to know!]

[They’re probably getting married soon, right? The Grant and Rivera families already had a family-arranged engagement. It’s only a matter of time.]

I went downstairs for breakfast and found Autumn already there.

She bounced over to me:

“Morning, sis!

“Wow, your skin looks amazing. Not like me—I’m always up late filming, I look terrible.”

I glanced at her face. Tch, the show said we had to be bare-faced this morning, but she’s wearing fake no-makeup makeup.

Not wanting her to start anything, I replied coldly:

“Oh, don’t be jealous. Maybe I was just born with good skin.”

Autumn was stung, but to keep her innocent image, she forced a smile.

For some reason, out of the five male and five female guests, I was the only one who could cook.

Helpless, I put on an apron and headed to the kitchen alone.

Seeing me cook, Jordan quietly followed:

“Maddie, let me help.”

Tyler also came into the kitchen.

Autumn, seeing Tyler leave, followed too.

In the kitchen, Jordan and Tyler peeled garlic.

“Maddie, doesn’t this remind you of our college camping trips?”

As I chopped veggies, I reminisced: “Yeah, can’t believe so many years have passed.

“You still can’t cook—just my little helper.”

We both laughed.

Tyler, for some reason, grabbed a bunch of garlic and muttered:

“It’s just peeling garlic. Anyone can do it.”

After peeling each clove, he’d show me: “See, I’m faster and cleaner than him.”

When I didn’t praise him, he started grabbing Jordan’s tasks.

If Jordan picked veggies, so did he. If Jordan peeled scallions, so did he. I had no idea why he was so competitive.

Their frantic rivalry made it look like we were swamped.

She offered, “Let me help.”

The two guys washing veggies immediately snapped, “No need!”

Autumn, yelled at for no reason, teared up instantly.

Maybe she felt awkward, so she rolled up her sleeves to cut vegetables.

But it was obvious she’d never been in a kitchen.

She didn’t know you should soak onions to avoid tearing up, so all four of us had red eyes;

She hesitated with the fish, knife in hand, while it flopped off the board;

She didn’t add oil when stir-frying, used sugar instead of salt, poured vinegar instead of soy sauce, and wasted what little ingredients we had.

Viewers, ever the stans, called her an ethereal angel—too pure to touch a frying pan.

All I could say was, “Everyone has their lane. Good luck to her.”

After much struggle, Autumn finally made a dish.

Scrambled eggs and tomatoes.

Tough one.

It’s literally the only dish I learned on my own.

Autumn wanted to cook another, but Tyler stopped her:

“You can go now, the three of us have it covered.”

Autumn had long regretted coming in, but couldn’t back out without embarrassing herself, so she stuck it out.

As soon as Tyler spoke, she shot him a grateful look.

The comments went:

[Shipping it! Tyler cares about Autumn, so sweet!]

But after Autumn left, off-camera, Tyler said:

“She’s just in the way. If not for her, we’d have finished eating by now.”

Tyler sidled closer to me. “It even smells fresher without her here. Maddie’s still the best.”

Me: …

When we brought the food out, the other guests were all around Autumn.

She’d cut her finger earlier and now sat there looking pitiful, eyes red.

She deliberately left her bandage off so everyone could see the wound. Subtle.

Tears welled up. “I’m so dumb. Did I make more work for you, sis?”

I replied coldly, “As long as you know.”

She failed to embarrass me and looked even more aggrieved. “Sorry, I made you mad again.”

Finally, Jordan couldn’t take it. He took away the dishes by Autumn:

“That cut’s serious. If you wait any longer, it’ll heal on its own.

“Maybe you shouldn’t eat. Go to the hospital to get it bandaged. Don’t blame us for not taking care of you.”

Oh wow. Jordan’s sharp tongue is everything I need right now.

Autumn quietly put her hand down and ate in silence.

“Huh? Why are there two plates of scrambled eggs and tomatoes?”

Obviously the show’s doing—setting up a comparison for the drama.

Pick one, and whoever’s dish isn’t chosen gets embarrassed.

To up the drama, both plates were set in front of Tyler.

Autumn, knowing what the show wanted, slid her plate toward him:

“Tyler, it’s my first time cooking. You wouldn’t embarrass me, right?”

With everyone watching, Tyler picked up his fork and tried her dish.

Autumn smirked at me.

But the next second, Tyler’s blunt review wiped the smile off her face:

“Too salty.

“The eggs are rubbery.

“Terrible.

“Whoever marries you would be miserable.”

Ouch. That was brutal. The table fell silent, everyone curling their toes in secondhand embarrassment.

The comments:

[Uh? Are Tyler and Autumn fighting? The mood’s off…]

[Look at Tyler’s face—it’s so dark. Did Autumn really mess up the dish that badly?]

[Maybe he’s trying to stop her from cooking again so she doesn’t get hurt.]

[Yeah, silent love. I’m shipping it!]

Sometimes, I really admire the fans’ imagination. They could spin night into day—should’ve been screenwriters.

After eating, none of the other guests offered to clean up.

Jordan volunteered to clear the dishes and wash up.

I went to help.

Tyler wanted to drag me off to rest, but seeing me leave with Jordan, he followed.

In the kitchen, wherever I went, Tyler was right behind.

“What are you doing?”

Tyler answered innocently, “Washing dishes.”

“Don’t you have OCD?”

He glanced at Jordan behind me and got competitive again:

“Uh… I can get over it for now.”

Me: …

The two of them scrubbed dishes like it was a contest.

“Maddie, look how fast I am.”

Tyler wouldn’t be outdone: “Maddie, look how clean mine are.”

In the end, they both held up plates and asked in unison, “Who’s better?”

I was speechless.

[Pfft, is this some kind of dishwashing competition?]

[So childish, but honestly, Tyler Grant is kinda cute like this.]

[Wait, is Tyler jealous? Of Madison? Not sure, let’s keep watching.]

[Is it just me, or does Tyler like Madison?]

Are they seriously having a dishwashing contest?

As the comments started shipping me and Tyler, Autumn came into the kitchen.

“Um, do you guys need help?”

We were almost done by then.

She always showed up at just the right time to get praised for doing nothing.

She lingered, pretending to be busy, but didn’t actually do anything.

Finally, Jordan couldn’t take it:

“If you’re really bored, you can mop the floor, okay?”

Autumn nodded obediently for the cameras: “Okay, finally something I can help with!”

Jordan ignored her and urged me to go rest.

As the three of us left, Autumn was left awkwardly holding a mop.

She looked to Tyler for help, but he just reminded her:

“Didn’t you say you wanted to help? Or were you just talking?”

“N-no, I’ll do it…”

To keep up her goody-two-shoes image, she had to suck it up.