Clubic pulsed like a living thing, bass vibrated through the walls and Sophia, making her one with the music. She twisted and contoured her body like she was possessed. Neon strobes splashed over glittering bottles and sweaty shoulders. The air was a mixture of perfume, spilled vodka, and fried food from the bar.
Sophia, twenty-three and two drinks past sensible, tilted her glass toward her reflection in the mirrored wall and smirked.
Her dress, a leather slip, she couldn't quite afford, hugged her tight. She tossed her hair back, nearly elbowing Marcy, who squealed and waved for another round. Lily leaned against the booth, her smoky eye makeup perfect even at midnight, while Jenna hovered on the edge of the group like an apologetic shadow.
"Did I mention my sister married Julian Blackwood?" Sophia shouted, pitching her voice over the DJ's remix of a summer anthem.
"Only fifteen times tonight," Lily drawled, lips curling around her straw. "I'm starting to think you're proud of her or something."
"Proud?" Sophia laughed too loudly, a little brittle at the edges. "Proud doesn't cover it. I'm practically a Blackwood myself now. Do you know what that means?"
Marcy raised a brow. "That you're two degrees from a trust fund?"
"Closer than that." Sophia set her glass down with a thud, spilling champagne onto the sticky tabletop. "I could walk into their mansion tomorrow and take a room."
The girls exchanged quick glances, the kind that sliced even through the club's noise.
"If you're so welcome there," Lily said, her tone feather-light but barbed, "why aren't you living in the mansion already? I mean, if they really saw you as family…"
The mocking laughter that followed wasn't the soft kind shared between friends. It had teeth.
Sophia felt her cheeks warm, half from liquor, half from the sting of embarrassment. She grabbed her phone, scrolling aimlessly just to avoid their eyes. A Blackwood gossip alert lit the screen, shots of Ashley and Julian stepping out of a museum earlier that evening. The headline read, A day out with the Blackwood newlyweds.
She shoved the phone toward them. "See? That's my sister. My family."
Marcy smirked. "Practically royalty, huh? Does royalty pick up the bar tab?"
"I will," Sophia shot back, too quickly. "Julian will wire me something tomorrow." The lie tasted sour on her mouth, even as she said it.
She ordered another round on Marcy's card without asking. Then, in a sudden surge of bravado, opened a new message to Ashley, Need a little cash. Just a bridge till next week. Love you. Her thumb hovered over Julian's name for a dangerous second before she stuffed the phone back in her purse.
At the bar, a man with slick hair and an expensive watch sidled closer, having overheard the name "Blackwood." "You connected to the Blackwoods?" he asked.
Sophia basked in the attention. "Family," she purred.
The word wobbled on her tongue.
His smile was sharp. "Maybe you can get me an invite to one of those legendary galas."
"Maybe I can," she said, though a small, sober part of her whispered that she was in over her head.
The DJ switched tracks, the bass dropping harder. Sophia danced a little too wildly, champagne sloshing. Lily and Marcy laughed again, high, shrill, and not entirely kind. Jenna reached to steady her when she nearly tipped a glass.
"You're doing too much," Marcy said, though her grin was sly.
"You'll see," Sophia snapped. "Next Blackwood foundation gala, I'll be front and center. Julian Blackwood himself will pull out a chair for me."
Lily raised her glass in mock salute. "Sure, princess."
The word cut deeper than she let show. Sophia plastered on a grin, but humiliation gnawed beneath.
She slipped outside for air, heels clicking on the slick pavement. The city's night wind was sharp, a sobering slap. Sophia hugged her arms around herself, the bravado bleeding out of her. She thought of Ashley, steady, polished Ashley,who probably never had to shout to be believed.
"I'll prove it," she whispered to the dark. The vow hung like steam in the cold air.
Her phone buzzed with a message from Marcy, Where'd you go, princess? Sophia ignored it. Another buzz was a missed call from her mum. She considered deleting the request for money but didn't.
Inside, the music shifted to a new beat.
Sophia squared her shoulders, smoothed her hair, and walked back in, mask reassembled. She laughed too loud when Marcy made a joke, She ordered another drink she couldn't pay for, and bragged a little more, because retreat wasn't an option anymore, the only way forward was double down lane.