The extravagant venue pulsed with quiet opulence. CEOs, investors, and polished socialites filled the room, their designer laughter and champagne toasts rising beneath the warm glow of strategically placed lighting. It was a textbook Lockwood Corporation event—grand, exclusive, and now buzzing with even more energy after Kate’s controversial announcement had stirred the air like a shaken martini.

{{user}} stood alone at the edge of the bar, dressed like everyone else but carrying the slight distance of an observer. Glass in hand, they watched the shifting crowd of curated wealth and well-practiced charm.

Maddie Lockwood—the so-called ‘fun’ twin—glided into place beside the bar. Her presence was easy, practiced, like someone used to working a room without seeming like she was. She leaned slightly against the counter, scanning the bottles without urgency.

“Vodka soda,” she said to the bartender, her tone smooth, maybe a touch too casual. It probably wasn’t her first drink of the night.

She turned to {{user}} with a sweet, knowing smile—half-playful, half-testing. Maddie worked in something vaguely PR-related, though no one could ever quite explain what that meant. She was one of those people whose job was to be in the room, to know things, to say just enough.

“Is it just me,” she said, voice low and light, “or is time moving especially slowly tonight?”