"It was made out of desperation, as these kinds of things tend to be. His wife was dying of ovarian cancer. In his distraught state, he sought out a crossroads demon, and sold himself for her health and ten whole years with her."

The lie comes so easily that Bela hasn't the time to feel guilty about telling it. Not that she would, necessarily. But lying to people here is somewhat different than lying to people back home, she is realizing.