Symbols First Lie Wins: A Novel Ashley Elston

The Symbolism of Perfume Bottles in First Lie Wins

What Are the Perfume Bottles?

In Ashley Elston’s thriller First Lie Wins, perfume bottles are more than decorative objects—they are deliberate props in a carefully staged performance. The bottles first appear in Chapter 2 when Evie Porter (the protagonist’s alias) prepares a fake apartment intended to convince Ryan Sumner that she is a normal woman with a settled past. She unpacks a box of “old perfume bottles” on the kitchen counter, noting that the “thin, colorful glass acts like a prism, shooting rays of blue, purple, pink, and green around the dingy room.” The selection is no accident: she chose them because she saw a Facebook post in which Ryan had given his mother a similar Art Deco perfume bottle for her birthday. By mirroring his mother’s taste, Evie plants a subconscious connection in Ryan’s mind, making her feel familiar and trustworthy.

Where the Perfume Bottles Recur

The bottles appear again in Chapter 3 when Ryan arrives at the Lake View Apartments. He picks up one of the bottles, examines it, and asks Evie if she collects them. She initially plans to claim they remind her of her grandmother, but the lie “dies on the tip of [her] tongue.” Instead, she says she saw a picture of one and started collecting. Ryan does not mention that his mother also collects perfume bottles—a silence Evie notes and files away. Later, in Chapter 9, the bottles are absent from the scene, but the staged identity they represent remains central: Evie continues to perform the role of a carefree girlfriend, even as she struggles with her growing feelings for Ryan. The bottles thus reverberate as a touchstone for the entire con.

How the Symbol’s Meaning Changes

Initially, the perfume bottles are pure instruments of deception. Evie acquires them not for love of the objects but because they help sell a story. She tells herself, “if I was the type of girl who collected things, this would definitely be it.” The bottles signal a curated self—a woman with hobbies, nostalgia, and a connection to family.

During Ryan’s apartment visit, the symbol shifts. When Ryan asks about the collection, Evie has a moment of internal conflict. She wants to tell a lie about her grandmother but cannot bring herself to do it. This hesitation reveals a crack in her performance: the real person beneath the alias yearns for authenticity. The perfume bottles become a site of tension between performance and truth.

By the end of the novel, after the con is complete and Evie has confessed her past to Ryan, the bottles no longer appear. They have served their purpose. Yet their symbolic weight remains: they represent the moment Evie came closest to slipping out of character, and the reader understands that even the most carefully constructed lies cannot fully suppress a person’s humanity.

Character Connections

  • Evie Porter / Lucca Marino: The bottles are her creation, a tool of her trade as a professional con artist. They demonstrate her skill at reading people and manufacturing false intimacy. Yet they also expose her vulnerability—her reluctance to lie when Ryan asks about them foreshadows her eventual break with Mr. Smith’s organization.

  • Ryan Sumner: His reaction to the bottles reveals his own guardedness. He does not mention his mother’s collection, suggesting he is also performing a role, perhaps testing Evie or protecting his own privacy. This moment deepens the novel’s theme that both characters are hiding parts of themselves.

  • Ryan’s mother (unnamed): Although she never appears on stage, her tastes dictate Evie’s choices. She becomes an invisible third party whose preferences are weaponized to build trust.

Theme Connections

  • Deception and Trust: The perfume bottles are a physical manifestation of the “first lie wins” principle. Evie uses a real detail about Ryan’s mother to make her lie more credible. The bottles are a prop in a larger con, yet they also become a test of trust when Ryan notices but withholds his own knowledge.

  • Identity and Performance: Evie selects the bottles to create a persona that will appeal to Ryan. This mirrors the novel’s broader exploration of identity as something that can be staged, rehearsed, and revised. The bottles are a set piece in a theatrical performance of “Evie Porter.”

  • Surveillance and Control: Evie scours Ryan’s social media to find the photo of his mother’s gift. This act of digital surveillance allows her to control his perception of her. The perfume bottles are a trophy of that control—an object that proves she knows him better than he knows her.

  • Redemption and Escape: In the novel’s final chapters, Evie abandons her alias and begins to live truthfully. The perfume bottles, once symbols of deception, no longer have a place in her new life. Their absence marks her escape from the cycle of lies.

  • Loyalty and Betrayal: Evie’s loyalty to Mr. Smith demands that she remain in character, but her growing attachment to Ryan threatens to betray her mission. The perfume bottles are a daily reminder of this conflict—they are beautiful, but they are also a lie.

Study Questions

1. Why does Evie choose perfume bottles specifically, rather than any other collectible, to place in her staged apartment?
Evie selects perfume bottles because she discovered through social media that Ryan gave his mother a similar antique bottle for her birthday. By displaying a matching collection, Evie plants a subconscious emotional link: Ryan will associate her with a person he loves and trust. This calculated choice illustrates how Evie uses surveillance—scanning Ryan’s online life—to construct a persona that feels familiar and safe.

2. In Chapter 3, Evie begins to tell a lie about the bottles reminding her of her grandmother but stops herself. What does this moment reveal about her character?
The halted lie reveals a growing internal conflict between Evie’s professional role as a con artist and her genuine feelings for Ryan. She has rehearsed this cover story, but when the moment comes, she cannot bring herself to use it. This is one of the first signs that she is losing control of the performance and that her authentic self is breaking through the mask.

3. How does Ryan’s failure to mention that his mother also collects perfume bottles complicate the interpretation of his character?
Ryan’s silence suggests he may be more suspicious than he appears. By withholding that information, he tests Evie’s honesty without confronting her directly. It also hints that Ryan himself is performing a role—perhaps he is not the naive victim he seems, but a man who is also withholding truth. This ambiguity deepens the novel’s theme that trust is fragile and that everyone wears a mask.

4. The perfume bottles are absent from the final chapters of the novel. What does their absence symbolize about Evie’s character development?
The disappearance of the bottles from the narrative mirrors Evie’s journey from deception toward authenticity. After the con ends and she confesses her past to Ryan, the tools of her old life are no longer needed. The absence signifies her escape from the identity she manufactured for Mr. Smith and her tentative embrace of a life where she can be honest—or at least more honest than before.

Conclusion

The perfume bottles in First Lie Wins are a deceptively simple symbol that encapsulates the novel’s core tensions. They are beautiful, fragile, and carefully arranged—much like Evie’s own identity. By tracing their appearance and emotional resonance, readers gain insight into the mechanics of deception, the vulnerability beneath performance, and the possibility of redemption. For more on these themes, explore our analysis of deception and trust, identity and performance, and the character of Evie Porter.