Sleeping Dogs Lie

In college, 18-year-old Amy is involved in a controversial incident involving her dog Rufus. The event is kept secret and casts a long shadow over her later choices. It marks the first time a private truth threatens her carefully curated life.

Eight years after college, Amy leads a seemingly ordinary life as a schoolteacher and is engaged to John. On the surface their life looks stable, but the past threatens to surface. She hides the truth from him, fearing consequences.

When John asks for total honesty, Amy fabricates a past romantic experience with her friend Linda. She hopes the lie will protect their future, but the truth weighs on her. The deception foreshadows the unraveling to come.

On a trip to her parents' house, Amy finally relents to John's questioning and tells him the truth. The confession fractures the couple's facade and unsettles the family. The moment sets in motion a cascade of consequences.

The next morning, Dougie overhears the admission and spills the beans at the breakfast table. Amy confirms that there was truth behind the lie. Her parents react with shock and disappointment, unsure how to respond.

After the revelations, Amy and John leave the parents' house, unable to repair the damage. Her father refuses to speak to her, and her mother expresses deep shame. The confrontation shatters the sense of safety the family once had.

Back at home, the relationship grows tense. One night John, while drunk, hurls an insult at Amy, prompting her to walk out. She begins a period of instability as she searches for a new place and purpose.

She shacks up with Linda and her boyfriend Carl, but leaves due to their noisy lovemaking. Then she starts a relationship with Ed, a co-worker who is also dealing with his own marital troubles, as he learns his wife has been cheating.

After Amy's mother dies of an aneurysm, she returns home and reconciles with her father, who shows a letter from Amy's mother. The family grief brings them closer, even as old wounds linger.

Amy and Ed visit Dougie in prison to inform him of their mother's death. Dougie immediately blames Amy, and she leaves quickly with Ed at her side. The moment underscores unresolved tensions and the fragility of the family.

Sometime later, Ed and his wife try to repair their own relationship, and Amy and Ed become a couple. Their relationship deepens as they navigate the fallout of past secrets. It marks a new chapter built on mutual support and shared history.

Ed suspects Amy's secret and learns that she had been pregnant and engaged to John, but chose to terminate the pregnancy. The revelation shocks him and hints at deep lies that have shaped their lives. The knowledge underscores the long shadow of Amy's past.

Ultimately, Amy decides to continue the lie, choosing to let sleeping dogs lie rather than reveal the full truth. She prefers maintaining the life she has built with Ed, even as the past continues to loom over them.