Page 24 - TruthAboutLyingFinalAmazon18

The Truth About Lying
"That's exactly why I should build it," he said. "I know every trick. Every loophole. Every way people hide from reality. I can close all of them."
"And what about your own reality, Henry? What about the truth you've been avoiding?"
"What truth?"
"Why we really stopped talking."
He felt his chest tighten. "We had a fight. You called me a liar. I called you self-righteous. We both said things...”
"No." Claire cut him off. "That's the story you tell yourself. Want to know the real reason?"
Henry didn't answer.
"It was Mom's funeral," she said. "You gave that eulogy. That beautiful, moving eulogy about what a wonderful mother she was. How she always put us first. How she taught us integrity."
"She did...”
"She was an alcoholic, Henry!" Her voice cracked. "She was drunk more than she was sober. She forgot to pick me up from school so many times I stopped calling. She told me I was a disappointment every time I didn't meet her impossible standards. And you stood up there and lied about all of it because you couldn't face the truth about who she really was."
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