Honest reply

I didn’t respond right away because I suspected that he didn’t want to hear my answer and in fact he might even get angry at my reply.

I considered all sorts of lies to try and find an iron clad excuse to get out of attending.

But then I decided that honesty was the best approach. So I told him exactly what I was thinking.

And it felt like the right option because it required some courage, it was the truth, and if he got angry that was on him.

My life would suffer and his would improve if I decided to attend just to avoid his anger and inability to deal with unfavourable conditions in an uncontrollable world.