...The Small Lie That Haunts Me Daily...

So here's the thing...I'm a freelancer at home, working on this big project for my client, Mr. Chen. It's been going well and I've gotten lots of good feedback from him so far...but there was one day last week when everything went wrong. I had a meeting with him scheduled and was supposed to send over some finished graphics the night before. But here's where it gets tricky - I hadn't really done much work that day because my cat, Whiskers, kept knocking over all my stuff...and distracting me. So by the time I managed to get everything set up again, it was too late. I couldn't face him and tell the truth about why nothing got done though...so instead I lied. I told him I'd sent a file but something had gone wrong with email delivery or something along those lines. It felt bad at first but then I thought 'well, there's no harm in buying myself some time'... I know it was wrong of me to lie but it just seemed easier than owning up and admitting I didn't finish the work...And since that day, every time I see Mr. Chen or think about sending those files over, my stomach knots up with guilt and anxiety...it's like a bad taste in my mouth that won't go away... So now here I am, days later and still trying to figure out if it was the right thing to do at all or not...I really wish I could just be honest about it without fear of how he'll react. I mean, I know I have a deadline coming up soon so maybe lying will come back to haunt me in a way that's more than just this vague guilt...