Holly and Georgia are childhood friends who’ve come to university together in Edinburgh. Holly's cooler, calmer and more cautious than the effervescent Georgia, who willfully throws herself into the madness of first year. When the two attend an electrifying lecture by hotshot Economics Professor, Jude McDermid, both find themselves considering their future and the possibility of applying to Jude’s elite internship scheme. Georgia's determined to get in with the powerful and glamorous clique of alpha girls surrounding Jude, and Holly starts to feel left behind. But as both girls enter the social whirl and lavish parties of the Clique, their friendship is tested. Holly senses something sinister behind the glittering facade.

After shocking events, Holly finds herself convinced something is rotten at the core of Solasta Finance. Georgia defies Holly and decides to join the girls. Holly feels compelled to look after her and a charming young banker may be her perfect invite to the party. When Georgia announces that she’s been accepted onto the internship scheme and is moving into the girls' house, Holly finds herself cut off. Stuck in halls with only Elizabeth for company, she decides to get proactive. As she digs deeper into the glittering world of Alistair McDermid, Jude and her girls, Holly finds herself increasingly suspicious of their behaviour but at the same time drawn to the life they represent. When banker Rory takes a very personal interest in Holly, she might have found her perfect invite to the party.

Holly is ready to start her new life as part of Jude’s clique. But as Georgia continues to push for a competitive position at Solasta, Holly remains suspicious – a feeling that gets even stronger when she starts to receive warning messages from a mysterious stranger. As the pressures mount on Georgia, Jude and her other girls band together, clinging to their old loyalties and turning a blind eye to the extraordinary circumstances around them. On an evening out, things come to a head and both new and old friendships find themselves tested to breaking point.

Holly is finally getting comfortable - her relationship with Rory has stepped up and her friendship with the girls feels ever more real. But when an awful truth surfaces, all that is shattered. Now Holly finds herself not knowing where to turn or who to trust. The warning messages she has been receiving intensify and the identity of their sender is more mysterious than ever. At a party to celebrate Georgia's achievements at Solasta, Holly finds herself at odds with the jolly atmosphere and things reach a vicious end.

With undeniable proof in front of her, Holly can now no longer deny the darkness of the world she and Georgia have entered. Reaching out to Rory, she’s shocked when he counsels patience in the face of such startling evidence. But Holly is done with being obedient and as she draws her new friends closer to her, they conspire to drag the awful truth out into the light of day. Those revelations will bring the world crashing down around those who felt the most unassailable but they will also set in motion a catastrophic set of events from which Holly may never return.

Holly’s been taken right to the edge and now she’s doubting every choice she’s made along the way – who she’s trusted, how she’s acted. The stakes are sky high and there’s nowhere left to turn. With everything seemingly out on the table, everyone must account for their behaviour and the part they’ve played in the terrible events of this first term – some will step up and some will slink away. But even now, there’s one more card to play and broken as she is, Holly will have to forge forward in the final battle to save Georgia from the darkness that has embroiled them all.