The narrative flashes back to two weeks before the murder. Lizzie Matthews looks at the Instagram account of her former college friend, Rebecca Sommers, who goes by @BarefootMamaLove online. Lizzie reflects on their college friendship when “Bex” (Rebecca) was wild and fun-loving. After graduation, Rebecca inexplicably cut ties with Lizzie, who remains hurt and confused. Now Rebecca lives on a ranch with her husband, Grayson, six children, and various animals; she is wealthy and famous due to her status as a social media influencer. 

Lizzie compares her own life to Rebecca’s seemingly perfect one. She married Peter, who is currently unemployed and reluctant to take lower-paying jobs. Their financial strain led them to move from New York to the Philadelphia suburbs. Lizzie still works as managing editor at a magazine but knows her industry is declining, partly due to influencers like Rebecca.

As Lizzie is about to put her phone away, she receives a direct message from Rebecca, who says she needs to talk about something important.

The narrative switches to Rebecca’s perspective: She reflects on how she ended up living on “the ranch” (the rural farm where she lives with her family and creates her content). A year after she and Grayson married, the couple moved from San Francisco to his family farm (in an unnamed state), “at least a ninety-minute drive from the nearest city and forty-five minutes away from the nearest town” (21). Shortly thereafter, Rebecca gave birth to Alice, her first child. She experienced new motherhood as lonely and isolating, especially since Grayson traveled constantly for work. Rebecca began a blog about her life, which quickly grew into a thriving business alongside her growing family. 

Rebecca details the exhausting process of creating content. Her nanny, Kiki (whom Grayson hates and who is hidden from followers), helps with the children while a professional photographer captures the week’s content. They stage scenes of her making breakfast, waking the children in sponsored pajamas, and filming in the barn, though staff handles actual farm work. She changes outfits seven times to vary the content. They also film Grayson in the fields to maintain his mysterious cowboy persona.

Rebecca reveals that under this carefully curated façade, her marriage is strained and abusive. Grayson avoids spending time with her or the children and sleeps in a separate room; it is implied that he physically abuses Rebecca as well.

The next morning, to Lizzie’s surprise, Rebecca messages her again. After confirming that Lizzie is an editor at Modern Woman magazine, Rebecca invites the latter to write a profile about a new venture. She asks Lizzie to fly out to stay with her at the ranch. Lizzie is confused by the request and hurt that Rebecca has not mentioned or apologized for how their friendship ended. Nonetheless, she agrees to go. 

Almost two weeks later (and a few days before the murder), Lizzie flies from Philadelphia to a more western location (city and state are not mentioned). Rebecca has arranged for them to meet at the MomBomb influencer conference at the luxurious Sensoria Hotel, near Rebecca’s ranch. Lizzie is intrigued to learn more about the influencing industry, but she is secretly preoccupied with another story: There are rumors that Grayson (Rebecca’s husband) is preparing to run for Congress. Rebecca promised in their messages to be an open book, but Lizzie wonders if she will meet the real Rebecca or the curated online persona.

At the MomBomb conference, Rebecca observes fellow influencers and reflects that everyone is lying about something. The conference atmosphere is intensely ambitious and judgmental. She spots Veronica Smith, a fellow successful influencer who is married to Grayson’s best friend. Rebecca suspects Veronica slept with Grayson but seems largely indifferent. 

Rebecca searches the crowd for Lizzie, excited to reunite with an old friend. She reflects that she feels guilty about how their friendship ended and plans to finally explain everything in person. Rebecca’s narrative provides more evidence of her abusive marriage: She is wearing sunglasses to hide a bruise around her eye, and she receives an angry text message from an unnamed man implied to be Grayson.

Lizzie arrives at the lavish hotel. As she begins exploring, she runs into Veronica Smith and then overhears a group of women gossiping about Rebecca—speculating about plastic surgery, marriage troubles, and an affair between Grayson and Veronica. When Rebecca approaches, the women fall silent. Lizzie feels protective and caring toward Rebecca. The two women head up to Lizzie’s room to talk, and Lizzie notices the bruises on Rebecca’s face; they evoke memories from when Lizzie watched her mother cope with an abusive marriage. 

In the opulent suite, Rebecca is charming and warm, although Lizzie is still confused as to why she won’t bring up the end of their friendship or the long period of estrangement. They reminisce about college and discuss their experiences of motherhood (Lizzie has two children under five, and Rebecca has six children under 12). Rebecca reveals her husband’s family money is gone, and she is now the primary earner. She plans to announce a major business deal the next day, but Grayson does not know about it and will not approve. She says she has leverage against him and wants the deal public so he cannot stop her. When Rebecca goes to the bathroom, Lizzie accidentally picks up Rebecca’s phone and sees a threatening message from a contact labelled “G” (presumably Grayson). The message uses the phrase “fucking bitch” and warns she will not get away with it.

Rebecca heads back to her room for the night, promising that they will talk more the following day and that she will give Lizzie more explanations about what happened. She apologizes, admitting, “I’m sorry for all of it” (86). Rebecca leaves Lizzie alone in the suite.