The design world had two kinds of mockups: the cheap, ugly ones, and the gorgeous, $50 ones she couldn’t afford. She scrolled through premium marketplaces, each price tag a tiny slap of defeat. $29. $45. $89 for the “Ultra-Realistic Beverage Bundle.” She closed the tab.

Gary was silent for a long time. Then he said, “This looks real. Like, on-shelf real. Who did your 3D rendering?”

She clicked. The download was instant. A single 500MB zip file named drink_pack.zip .