An Honest Lie Novels & Stories

“What I can't offer is love. I don't know what that feels like yet. I might learn. I might not. I won't promise you a feeling I don't currently have access to just to make this easier to accept.” I'd been lied to my whole life by people who smiled while doing it. Thomas's warm certainty over dinner. Jaxon's practiced devotion before it curdled into something that killed me. Even Aurelia's soft, wounded voice, engineered down to the last syllable. Nobody had ever handed me an ugly truth instead of a pretty lie and let me decide what to do with it. “That's the most honest thing anyone in this world has ever said to me,” I told him, and meant it more than he probably understood.

“So are you lying to us?” Nylah gasped and turned to him like he’d just shouted a swear word in church. My throat closed. He wasn’t wrong. God, he wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t lying, not exactly, but dodging wasn’t the same as honesty either, and kids knew when they were being dodged. “I’m not lying,” I said quickly, leaning forward. “I just… I need to find the right word, because when I tell you, I want you to really understand all of it.”

Our teacher used this example to tell us that we should be honest, or else it could lead to serious consequences. Damon stiffened and instinctively glanced at Nyla, relieved to find she wasn't looking at him. He sat down next to Mason and played with him, saying, "Buddy, your teacher is right. But there's also a kind of lie called a 'white lie.' It's not meant for yourself but to protect others from being hurt. That kind of lie can be forgiven." Mason immediately countered, "But lying is still lying, right? No matter if it's for a good intention or not, it's still lying!"

Sarah laughed, her laugh coming out like a choked cough. “We’ve been together for years and year after year he just lied to me and I never knew it, on my way home yesterday I kept thinking why will my best friend lie to me about such a thing but then I remembered You’re the most honest person have ever met, sometimes your honesty even hurts” Sarah sobbed, shaking her head she continued.

adding that this would be in her best interest. I waited for him to elaborate, but he gave the impression that what he had already said was sufficient. "Is this what you do to make people pay you?" I inquired, raising the volume of my voice. "How does being honest contribute to the management of a crisis?" Andrew responded, unruffled by the remark, that "sometimes it's the best answer." "Most people appreciate honesty. Even if they don't agree with it, it seems natural to them when they hear it. If you want to trick people into believing a falsehood, you have to cover up the sour taste with enough sugar to fool them. The truth is always more palatable than lies.

“I only want an honest conversation.” Honesty. The word sounded strange coming from him. All he knew how to do was lie and twist the truth to benefit himself. "Fine," I agreed. "Let's have lunch."

After the caseworkers left, Lyra sat down on the couch and stole glances to see whether my eyes had gone red. When I showed no reaction, her little face fell. I couldn't help asking, "Why did you say Mommy trafficked you?" Lyra pouted, full of righteous certainty. "You're the one who said you bought me. I only told the mister and miss what you said. I'm a good, honest girl. My teacher says we can't lie."

"If I admit all of that, I have nothing left, no defense, no justification, nothing." "You have nothing left anyway," I pointed out gently. "At least this way you'd have the truth." "The truth doesn't pay debts," Ethan said bitterly. "The truth doesn't restore reputation, the truth just makes everything worse." "Only if you keep running from it," I said. Ethan laughed, sharp and humorless. "You really believe that," he said. "You really think the truth fixes things." "I think the truth is the only thing that gives you a chance at fixing things," I corrected. "Lies just make the damage permanent."

I said, raising a brow at him. He blinked back at me. Then he laughed. “I can’t believe you remembered that word for word. And I can’t believe you fell for that!” “Of course! You said you don’t tell lies.” “White lies don’t count.” “White lies are lies you tell so you wouldn’t hurt another person’s feelings.” “What about lies you tell to get the other person to admit the truth about what she’s feeling?” he asked me matter-of-factly. “What?”

“So I misunderstood that this guy is your friend. And I misunderstood that you guys are engaged and want to get married. And I'm sure I got it wrong, too, that you were just lying to me the whole time.” She held up her hands in a soothing manner. "I didn't lie to you..." "No, you didn't," he interrupted, his tone now caustic. 'You just kept a few things secret, that's something else entirely, of course. A little secret here, a little swindle there—none of that bad.” “Let me at least explain how it happened,” she pleaded desperately. "Well, I'm really looking forward to it. What are you going to tell me this time?" He smiled cynically: "You can skip that, you don't seriously expect that I'll