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Summary
Chapters 1-3
Chapter 1
A woman identifying herself as “Evie” meets her boyfriend Ryan’s close-knit group of friends for the first time. These friends have known each other all their lives, gone off to college nearby in Louisiana, and returned to their privileged routines, joining the Junior League and country clubs and settling comfortably back home. They’re suspicious of her, and their conversations often feel like interrogations. When they ask how she and Ryan met, Evie explains that they met when he helped her with a flat tire outside the restaurant where she works. One friend jokes that Ryan might have let the air out of the tire on purpose, but Evie later reveals that she sabotaged her own tire to create the opportunity to meet him.
While their initial curiosity about her is satisfied at dinner, one of Ryan’s friends invites Evie to lunch, signaling the start of a second wave of questions. Every night, Ryan asks if she’ll stay, but this time, he takes it further—he asks her to move in.
Chapter 2
Every Thursday, Ryan works out of an office in East Texas, so Evie specifically plans to move in on a Thursday to avoid his involvement. She has Goodwill pick up her things and muses that she’ll pretend she’s owned them for years, not days. After the movers leave, she carefully stages her apartment to make it look like she’s been living there, such as pouring out bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and condiments to make them appear used. She has also been buying fancy perfumes and dumping them out, having seen on social media that Ryan’s mother collects unique perfume bottles.
The woman who manages her apartment complex stops by unexpectedly. Suspicious, she questions Evie’s situation, noting that she rented the apartment on Monday but hasn’t seen any sign of activity until now. Given that the complex rents week-to-week and is often used for illicit purposes, the manager seems intent on leveraging the situation to her advantage. But Evie quickly shuts her down, firmly telling her that her concern is unnecessary and that she’s not to drop by again without notice.
Chapter 3
Evie moves into Ryan’s large, elegant house, a property he inherited from his grandfather. It sits on a perfectly manicured street, the kind of home that signals stability and family. As she walks through the house, she reflects that it’s so big, someone in the main bedroom wouldn’t hear if someone entered through the carport door.
Later, Evie casually asks Ryan about his day, but he avoids giving details about his Thursday routine. She notes that whatever he does on Thursdays is important. When she tells him the movers can come, Ryan is surprised and saddened to learn she gave away all her furniture. Evie reminds him that her old things were purely practical, without sentimental value. She reflects to herself that the statement is true, even if she never really lived in that apartment. Ryan cancels the movers and insists on taking the few boxes himself. He’s horrified to see where she lived but thrilled to discover her collection of perfume bottles, though he doesn’t mention the coincidence that his mother collects them too.
Evie considers fabricating a story about her grandmother collecting perfumes but decides to tell a simpler half-truth, saying she saw one in a picture and hadn’t realized how beautiful they could be. She doesn’t want to lie to Ryan more than necessary. He helps her find and pack the last of her things, and she notes that he’s more thorough than she expected. As he rifles through her boxes, she asks why, and he says he wants to learn everything about her. She wonders if he’s choosing his words as carefully as she is.
Analysis
The opening chapters of First Lie Wins make it clear that nothing is what it seems. From the outset, we know little about Evie beyond what she tells others, and she admits that what she says might not be true. Even details like her name and background are shared through dialogue with other characters, leaving the reader uncertain about what to believe. This narrative style aligns with the novel’s central theme: everyone has secrets, and relationships—especially new ones—are built on half-truths and curated impressions.
Evie’s careful self-curation takes the typical dating performance to an extreme. Where people might usually exaggerate their interest in a partner’s hobbies, Evie meticulously reshapes her life to align with Ryan’s expectations. She collects perfume bottles after seeing that Ryan gave his mother fancy perfumes, anticipating that the kind of woman he would love would share that interest. She even stages her move, crafting an image of a woman who fits seamlessly into his world. This performance is not just about attraction but about control—Evie is building a version of herself she believes will become indispensable to Ryan.
However, the idea that Evie is manipulating Ryan is complicated by the possibility that she doesn’t fully know him either. Just as she conceals her true self, Ryan also holds things back—most notably his Thursday routine, which he avoids discussing despite Evie’s repeated inquiries. This creates a dynamic where both characters might be performing, raising the question of whether either of them truly knows the person they’re with. Their relationship becomes a heightened version of the secrets and discoveries that occur in all relationships, but here, the stakes are higher, and the lies more deliberate.
Beneath these layers of deception lies an undercurrent of emotional truth. Evie’s comment about her furniture—explaining that it was purely functional and lacked sentimental value—rings true, even though the apartment she supposedly lived in was part of her act. She doesn’t want to lie to Ryan more than necessary, offering him small, truthful glimpses into her emotional world. This blend of truth and deceit reflects a deeper theme in the novel: even when someone constructs an elaborate façade, genuine feelings can still emerge. Evie's struggle to manage how much of the truth to reveal suggests that she’s not simply a cold manipulator—her emotional honesty seeps through in ways she didn’t intend.
