Chapter 36: Mirage — Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 36 opens at the Pride Soc formal dinner, where Georgia decides to leave early. It's 10:20 PM, and she's drained from socializing. Pip is caught up in conversations with strangers, Jess is mingling, and Sunil is nowhere to be seen. Georgia checks her phone and wonders whether Jason is okay, imagining him alone in his room, unsure whether her headache excuse was real or a polite rejection. She doesn't want to think about love anymore.

As she descends the narrow stairway out of the restaurant, she overhears a heated argument. Sunil is confronting Lloyd, a former Pride Soc member who objects to the society's recent inclusivity. Lloyd complains that Sunil has changed the events and is letting in