Indonesia
English
日本語
Mystery
The Truth They Lied About
By: laelanfad
When 29-year-old Lila dies in her sleep from a preventable illness, her parents are left reeling. Not just from grief, but from the shocking discovery that they never truly knew her as their daughter.
The Truth They Lied About is a profound, emotionally charged novel that uncovers the invisible battles of a young woman named Lila, a beloved daughter, dutiful citizen, and silent sufferer, who dies in her sleep from aspiration pneumonia, a condition linked to her long-ignored health and a deeper, unseen despair.
To her conservative, domineering father, Lila was a model daughter who was obedient, reserved, and homebound. At her funeral, strangers arrive claiming to be her friends, and condolence messages coming from unfamiliar colleagues and company they never heard of. All because Lila has lived a life she never spoke of. Her father is forced to confront the fact he had refused to see. Lila had led a double life with so many divided realities. Behind the faade, she was a dedicated Customer Support, a seeker, a quiet rebel. She worked remotely, rented a hidden flat, and cultivated secret relationships with people, constructing an identity her family never truly knew.
Her scarred childhood, shaped by emotionally distant parents and incompetent nannies, left her longing for stability and self-definition. As a child, she often lied to her schoolmates just to sound normal. One of her earlier friends who caught her in a spinning web of lies was Phairoj.
Growing up, she was bruised by a close friend, Decha, a kind, aspiring doctor who left her behind to chase his career in a bigger city, even though they could have a future together if things remain the same for a while.
During her years in university, she was also betrayed by a peer, named Siree, who mocked her for being poor just because she could not afford to have her own resource to support her college assignment. Finally, a pivotal turning point comes when she meets a girl, called Ploy, who lives boldly in her own flat, showing Lila what independence could look like.
Despite her fractured identities she had been dealing with throughout her life, Lila finds moments of refuge in the voice of a kind psychologist who lets her tame her feelings rather than reject them, and in a distant colleague from her remote job, Lin, someone she only met once in person but who offered genuine connection throughout deep-talk sessions and Buddhism.
After Lilas death, her mother, once complicit in silence and submission, slowly begins to unravel her daughters hidden world. She begins her own journey through Lilas hidden world for anonymous therapy sessions, a secret rented flat, and long-forgotten dreams.
Visiting Lilas rented flat, she traces the rituals of a life she never truly witnessed, from the desk and drawers arranged with precision, packed bags and suitcases in case of running away, and other little symbols of autonomy and pain. In learning the truth, her mother doesnt just mourn. She begins to remember and honor the real daughter she has no idea of.
Told through pieces of memories, posthumous revelations, and searing inner monologues, The Truth They Lied About is a multi-generational tale of emotional inheritance, justified rebellion, and the suffocating cost of living a life edited for approval. This is a novel for anyone who has ever been asked to shrink themselves for love, and who dares to imagine a life beyond the heartbreak.
