Beneath the Lies by Sapna Bhog

A saga of Forgotten Love and Second Chances

How would you feel when the man you have known and loved for the last five years is not who he said he was? That everything he ever told you was all a lie.

An accident changed our lives forever and now I have to bring him back to us because he doesn’t remember our life, our family or us. One minute, I was just a regular girl from India married to a man she loved, and the next, my life has changed completely because I’m married to an English Duke, who doesn’t remember me.

My name is Aaliya Singh Talbot and I will do whatever it takes to bring my husband back from the darkness and into the light.

I will make him remember no matter what I have to do!

I will make him remember everything - beneath all the lies!

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Read an Excerpt from Beneath the Lies

Damien

London

The first thing that hits me when I open my eyes is that revolting hospital smell. I hate it! I’ve always hated it! The word hospital ought to come patented with that typical nausea inducing antiseptic smell.

The persistent beep of a monitor makes me turn my head to the green lines on its screen. My eyes widen as I scan my surroundings. Bloody hell! I’m on a hospital bed, connected to a heart rate monitor and dozens of other tubes and I’ve no fucking clue as to why.

“Thank God! You’re awake. You’re finally awake.” A familiar voice speaks from my side.

It’s my best friend Gabriel! He’s standing beside me, his expression worried and relieved at the same time. Dark shadows surround his eyes and his clothes are wrinkled. I try to sit up but a sharp pain in my head stops me. A loud wince escapes my lips and Gabe immediately squeezes my shoulder. 

“Don’t, Damien, please. Just lie down. I’m going to fetch a doctor.” 

I shut my eyes and hesitantly touch my head. Sure enough, most of my head is wrapped in bandages. Why am I here? What’s happened to me? I can’t for the life of me comprehend what’s going on. My mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out of my dry throat.

Gabe returns with a doctor, Dr. McKenzie from what I can read on his badge. He has a white mop of hair and a somber expression on his face. He shines some light in my eyes and checks my pressure while asking some preliminary questions. How do I feel? Does it hurt anywhere else? Can I feel my arms, my legs? Can I move them etc, etc? I give him answers with nods of my head.

After he’s done, I take a deep breath and try to speak again, but what comes out is a choked sound. The doctor hands me a glass of water. I take a sip and try again. 

“What happened to me?” I ask, my voice hoarse from un-use for God knows how long. 

Gabe is staring at me, a frown knotted on his brow. “Damien, you were in a car accident. Don’t you remember?”

An accident? When was I in an accident? Fuck! My mind is a huge empty blank.  

“I don’t recall being in a car accident,” I bark out, “and I don’t have patience for this nonsense. I need some answers, NOW!”

“Damien, you need to calm down,” Gabe says.

The doctor takes a step closer to me. “What is the last thing you remember?” he asks.

I take a moment to think back. “It was my birthday. I was at a coffee shop waiting for Gabe.”

“What year is it?” Gabe asks me.

“Gabe…” I start to say but he raises a hand to stop me. “Answer me Damien.”

“2015”

His mouth drops open and he turns a helpless look at the doctor.

“Can someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on?” I finally snap. “What is wrong with my head and why the hell am I on this Godforsaken bed with a dozen machines attached to me?”

The old doctor shakes his head at my outburst but Gabe is smiling. The angry glare that I throw his way does nothing to wipe his grin. He’s the only one I know who has always been unfazed by me. A fleeting memory pops in my mind of someone else, but I can’t catch it. It’s gone before I can exhale on my next breath. Ignoring it, I turn to the doctor waiting for a response from him.

He takes the glass from me and puts it on the table next to me before he says, “You’ve been in a severe accident that has injured the back of your brain, which means that you may have lost some part of your memory. How much, we’ll have to conduct tests to ascertain. But as of now, it seems that you’re suffering from some form of amnesia.”

I give him a fierce look. 

“That can’t be true,” I scoff. 

His lips flatten and he crosses his arms in front of him. “With due respect, Your Grace, that is true because the year is 2020 and you seem to be missing five years of your life. I’ll be back to conduct a few tests once you’re settled in with this information.”

About the Author:
Sapna Bhog is an author from India who writes contemporary and historical romance novels. As a self-proclaimed die-hard romantic, her books are filled with swoon-worthy heroes and feisty heroines who clash all the time, but do get their happy ever after. Sapna has always surrounded herself with books and when she is not writing she is reading. Originally from Dubai, she now lives in Western India with her husband, kids and a Siberian Husky. Sapna gave up a successful IT career and took a foray into writing and has never looked back since. Her favourite pastimes are reading, writing, traveling and shopping—not necessarily in that order. She loves to hear from readers.

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