"I don't know how to tell this part of the story."
"Well, why don't you just spit it out, then I will deny that it ever happened?"
"Yes, that is definitely the best course of action."
“You're deluded."
"My mother told an impartial third party that her son had a rough childhood."
"You lie."
"I have a sound file of the third party describing the conversation in detail."
"You are fantasizing."
"So how did this alleged conversation that never happened affect my mother? It's hard to say. And, once again, under what circumstances would such a conversation ever occur?"
"You are manipulative."
"Well. She had literally just met this impartial third party, and apparently she kind of just blurted it out."
"Sounds like someone is being manipulated."
"What?"
"If she ever even did make that statement to begin with, which, we have already established never happened, probably, her son brought it upon himself. He exaggerates."
"And, in any case, it is time to forget the past and move on.”