[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-115940-en":3,"doc-seo-115940-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},115940,2336475104957,"Seraphina","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c4c6bd8a5076e1?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1787554080175789136",1,"Story & Novel","Once Upon a Lie - Chapter 1 - August 2022","A memoir-style opening chapter recounts the morning that begins the end of a marriage, set in August and framed with sharp, darkly comic self-reflection. The narrator describes a lively studio routine in L.A., her family’s creative work and internet exposure, and the constant mental friction from beloved children’s media. The chapter ties together sobriety milestones, a planned celebration, and the earlier origin of the couple’s relationship.","Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook.  \nGet a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up  \nand see terms and conditions.  \nCLICK HERE TO SIGN UP  \nAlready a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in  \nyour inbox.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFor Alϯe and Poppy, Everything in these pages began with my love for you. Also, I will pay for your therapy.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nCHAPTER ONE  \nONCE UPON A LIE  \nAUGUST 2022  \nThe ϯnal time my husband cheated on me, the candles on the eight-years-sober cake I bought for him were still warm. Had I known, of course, that I was really celebrating the beginning of the end of my marriage, I might have gone for cupcakes, the supreme individual dessert, to better suit the mood. Maybe even a citrus tart, just to taste a hint of all that had grown sour right beneath my nose.  \nOr perhaps a steaming pile of shit. But I’m getting ahead of myself.  \nFittingly, the morning of the beginning of the end was in August. In the same way that Florida is the armpit of America, August is the sweaty underboob of the year. The thing about August is that it never seems to end—kids still out of school, babies stuck to mommies like a clammy extra limb, AC bills climbing to dizzying heights—and then when it ϯnally does, you’re hit with the impossible whiplash that it’s suddenly September: time to spend an insane amount at Target and cut the crusts oϦ the gluten-free PB&Js and buy overpriced pumpkins for the front porch—still sweating, mind you—and all the while, you remain caught up in the absolute wringer that August put you through.  \nThe August-of-it-all aside, the morning that changed everything was downright pleasant. Stephen and I were working at our studio in L.A., the cozy ϯrst home that we’d bought together. When we outgrew it after ϯlling it with two babies—ϯrst Alϯe, then Poppy—we bought and renovated our dream house nearby, and kept our family’s ϯrst nest to use as an oϩce and studio.  \nThose walls had seen everything, from baby-making to baby-baking. Alϯe’s ϯrst steps. Many a postpartum breakdown. Mid-pandemic couples counseling. Sketches ϯlmed in the backyard and late-night writing sessions at the kitchen table. You know who else saw everything? Millions of strangers on the internet. They watched me give birth to not one but two human beings. And that couples therapy session? Available to watch, for free, on YouTube. Two mortgages was a luxury, but at the time, we were doing well, and it made sense for us to hold onto the house and make it the HQ for all things Idiots Incorporated.  \n(Remind me later to tell you why having two mortgages is a terrible idea.)  \nOn that fateful morning, I was singing a song about a sassy alligator. It was a children’s song for our new project featuring my Pamela Pupkin character, Pammy ’s World—a YouTube channel dedicated to creating funny, well-made content that kids would love and parents wouldn’t feel assaulted by. Quality music, original characters: It was Stephen’s and my latest collaboration. At the time, our kids were three and one, and as much as I appreciated their dedication to exhausted parents everywhere, Blippi’s smug face was beginning to piss me oϦ, and Ms. Rachel’s voice—God love her—was playing on a nonconsensual loop in my head.  \nWhat’s in the box? What’s in the box? What? is? in? the? box?  \nI didn’t know what was in the box, but part of me hoped it was anthrax.  \n(In all seriousness, Ms. Rachel is a national treasure and should be protected at all costs.)  \nAside from our heroic eϦort to make not-shitty children’s music, this wasn’t just any old morning. It was also the eighth anniversary of Stephen’s sobriety, and that called for a celebration. I ","cbCaiqyEQOOnCDbw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqyEQOOnCDbw","pdf",5266073,3,253,"English","en",105,"# Once Upon a Lie\n## August 2022","[{\"question\":\"What does the chapter say about why the end of the marriage begins in August?\",\"answer\":\"It portrays August as an unending, exhausting season, culminating in the “morning that changed everything,” which is treated as the start of the marriage’s decline.\"},{\"question\":\"Where does the narrator and Stephen spend the morning before the relationship changes?\",\"answer\":\"They work in their L.A. studio and office space, the first home renovated to serve as headquarters for their creative projects.\"},{\"question\":\"What milestone is being celebrated on the morning described in this chapter?\",\"answer\":\"It is the eighth anniversary of Stephen’s sobriety, prompting a personal celebration plan including a vegan cake, flowers, and a massage appointment.\"}]","Once Upon a Lie - Chapter 1 - August 2022 | PDF",1785477829,390,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"once-upon-a-lie-chapter-1-august-2022","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/once-upon-a-lie-chapter-1-august-2022/115940/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-16","2026-07-31",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What does the chapter say about why the end of the marriage begins in August?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It portrays August as an unending, exhausting season, culminating in the “morning that changed everything,” which is treated as the start of the marriage’s decline.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Where does the narrator and Stephen spend the morning before the relationship changes?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"They work in their L.A. studio and office space, the first home renovated to serve as headquarters for their creative projects.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What milestone is being celebrated on the morning described in this chapter?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"It is the eighth anniversary of Stephen’s sobriety, prompting a personal celebration plan including a vegan cake, flowers, and a massage appointment.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,96,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]