Page 2 of The Road Less Traveled By

Thank you for making me feel safe. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for treating me like a real human being and not some social media thing that people assume to know. Thanks for watching my videos before I uploaded them so I could make sure they were good. Thanks for being a friend when I desperately needed one. And thanks for being a shoulder to cry on when the world felt too big.

“Thank you for making my job easy,” he tells me as he swings the door open. “If you need me, call me. I’ll be back to you as soon as I’m able.”

“I will. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“You too, Bree.”

He shuts his door and drives out of sight, and I stand rooted to my spot for a few minutes.

It was good to know you, Vince Evans.

A few minutes later, I feel a hand snake through mine, and I jump.

“It’s just me, sis.”

Liv.“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Are you ready to go?”

I take a long, deep breath before I answer her. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Chapter one

March 2026

— THIS IS ME TRYING BY TAYLOR SWIFT

I’ve always believed thatlife is a series of choices.

Every day you’re alive, you make a thousand decisions that lead you to where you are now. You might not even think about it, but any choice can have a thousand different ripple effects, like rain on a pond.

There are so many things to remember each day, and honestly, it gets exhausting. All these choices and different paths could come from them. What if I choose wrong and end up destroying a once bright future? What if I make one decision that, in my mind, feels small but ends up changing my life for the better? Or for the worse?

All the goddamn what-ifs could drive you crazy if you think about it too long and hard.

I never thought that choosing to post a YouTube video of a book haul one day when I was sixteen would lead me here—a conference room in Pennsylvania, being bored to death and on edge at the same time.

My leg has been shaking since I sat down, my heart beating so fast that I feel like it’s going to explode, and not once in the past week have I felt calm. I keep zoning in and out of the conversation that doesn't really involve me. I might be the one to make the final call, butnobody ever really asks for my opinion anymore; they just tell me what to do, and I do it.

I used to have fight left in me, but I can’t seem to find that anymore. I’m tired of fighting people and choices.

“So, that’s about it. Bree, how do you feel about this arrangement?”

Shit.“Uh, good. I think it will benefit both parties.”

“There’s no way she was paying attention.” A sharp voice I’ve heard before pierces the air, and suddenly, I notice a familiar face on the screen. Alexander Adams—an up-and-coming actor who made his name sleeping around with half his costars.

He’s a decent actor, but most people know him for whichever girl he’s dating that week.

“How nice of you to say, Alex. It appears you’ve only just joined the meeting as well.” I glance down at the watch on my wrist. “A half hour late.”

“It helps that I’ve already agreed to the plan, Brianna.”

I roll my eyes before correcting him. “Just Bree.”

“Can we get back to the matter at hand?” Connie directs what I assume is Alex’s manager back to the topic they were discussing while I zoned out. “Bree, Grace and her team were telling you how this could help you.”

“Fake dating a star of Alexander’s caliber will help immensely,” Grace tells me.

---