Petra Rose listens to the gossip podcast And What Now, Readers? as they discuss her most recent book, A Terrible Thing. It was a love story about Elise, who falls in love with two men, Ash and Caleb. However, when it was made into a film, Caleb was cut from the story. Petra insisted she had nothing to do with it, yet a leaked text showed that she agreed with the decision by producer Allister Jones. When the podcast announces Allister as the next guest, Petra angrily turns it off.

Driving her car to a secluded cabin to try to resume writing, Petra pulls over, overwhelmed by anxiety as she reflects on what happened with her novel. She lost fans and friends in the literary industry as people turned against her over the film. She has been off social media and out of the public eye for over a year.

Petra’s friend Nora calls. She suggests that Petra make an apology post, but Petra is adamant that she won’t apologize “to people who don’t know the whole story” (9). She assures Nora that she is going to win her fans back by writing something new.