Because George’s lies were never pure invention.

A pure invention is fragile; it can be checked against reality and found to have no anchor there, no corroborating fact, nothing real to stand on.

George’s lies were sturdier than that, and more dangerous, precisely because they were always grafted onto a piece of the truth.

He had really stood on that roof, so the photograph was real, so the forged contract borrowed the photograph’s credibility.

He had really taken Chloe to school sometimes, so his claim to be the devoted parent borrowed the reality of those mornings.