A lie is a loan with ugly interest. The longer you wait, the more you owe.

The original thing usually stays the same size. What grows is everything built to keep it hidden, the details you have to remember and the second and third statements that have to match the first. Time is what makes it expensive, not the mistake, and the balance quietly rises while you decide.

If something is running, close it today rather than at a better moment, because better moments do not arrive. Say the true version plainly, without a long preamble, and let it be awkward for an evening. That is the cheapest this will ever be.