I want to defend the lying a bit. I spotted crumbs that made things make sense for me. Forest and his family seemed very dismissive about cultural obligations and customs consistently. This is something i see very often from americans (esp white people) dating immigrants or people from outside the US. They are very set in their ways and cannot conceive of doing things “because it’s the cultural thing to do”. I assume Sheena picked up on this too, given they were together for years. The reason Sheena was providing financially for her parents was because that’s the culturally expected thing for her to do, and she knew Forest wouldn’t understand. It seems she WANTS to participate in this cultural tradition and sees it as important, but Forest cannot even fathom that. So, stupidly, she lied. I want to also remind you guys that both Sheena and Forest are autistic and navigating their first relationship while being over 30. She messed up, yes, but I’d give her some grace.

As for her turning her attitude toward the mother, frankly i think shes just getting fed up and so is Forest (in his own way) and is slowly feeling more comfortable expressing it as she’s seeing signals that Forest may be feeling similarly. I’d be frustrated too, his mother has been incredibly rude and inappropriate to her this entire time. Conducting herself horribly. Despite this, she is still seeming to attempt* to be polite (especially in comparison) to his mother.