A lie is a subscription. You keep paying for it every month you let it run.

Paying for it once would be simple. What actually happens is the ongoing attention afterward, the small checks about who knows what, the slight tension whenever a subject comes near it. None of that is dramatic, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed for so long while quietly taking a share of your week.

Add up what one of them is costing you right now. If the honest answer is more than the truth would have cost, cancel it. Saying the real thing is one bad conversation, and afterward you get all that attention back.