What they mean by "in fact"?

[Ellada]

English Error, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #23 "The bank raid", question 6

Then Dave asked Sid to tell him how in fact he was proposing to steal a bank because that was Sid's first idea.

(a) in
(b) steal
(c) first

English Error, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #23 "The bank raid", answer 6

Then Dave asked Sid to tell him how in fact he was proposing to rob a bank because that was Sid's first idea.

Correct entry: rob
The error was: (b) steal
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what they mean by "in fact"?

Ellada

[Alan]

Hi,

This is a phrase meaning 'in truth', 'in reality'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Subjunctive