The Lyinggame - A totally addictive romantic suspense that you won't be able to put down

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Riley

A romantic suspense novel opens with Oriana Foster preparing to leave a noisy communal rec room and step through a series of controlled, watchful environments. Supported and confronted by figures like Miss Clunes, Oriana receives a familiar envelope, reviews personal effects, and resists facing the person she was before her ordeal. The early chapter frames waiting, envious attention, and strained goodbyes as the pressure builds toward what Oriana is finally about to face.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages196

Reading Time5 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter One

Oriana Foster prepares to leave

The rec room and surrounding noise

Goodbyes, control, and an envelope at the office

A toall adctve omante suspeasemwonitbeabl to pur down he LYINGGAMEF AITH MA RTINwriting asMAXINE BARRY THE LYINGGAME A totally addictive romantic suspense that you won't beable to put down Faith Martin writing asMAXINE BARRY First published by Joffe Books,London 2020www.joffebooks.com First published in Great Britain 2006 Maxine Barry 2006,2020 This book is a work of fiction.Names,characters,businesses,organizations,places and events are eitherthe product of the author's imagination or are usedfictitiously.Any resemblance to actual persons,living or dead,events or locales is entirely coincidentalThe spelling used is British English except where fidelityto the author's rendering of accent or dialect supersedesthis.The right of Maxine Barry to be identified as authorof this work has been asserted in accordance with theCopyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988. Please join our mailing list for free Kindle books andnew releases. www.joffebooks.com ISBN 978-1-78931-388-8 ONE Oriana Foster bent down to zip up her bag.In it she had apair of very worn and faded jeans,two plain white blouses,a dark-green knitted cardigan,given to her by an aunt longsince dead,some underthings,and a toiletries bag.In the toi-letries bag was a toothbrush and a half-empty tube of tooth-paste.Other than what she stood up in,it was all she had.Maybe. She zipped up the cheap holdall,something she’dbought with her wages from her job in the kitchens,andlooked around.Whitewashed walls.Posters of green fieldsand rivers on the wall.A bunk bed,attached to the wall byrusty brackets. She turned and walked to the door.Outside,on thelanding,she heard the usual volume of noise coming frombelow.In the rec room,two women were playing table ten-nis,and playing very well at that.One,Vera McKloskey,wasan expert.She'd been playing the game for years.Twenty-two years,some said,although others derided that as a mererumour. Oriana walked slowly down the iron staircase,her feet,clad in a pair of battered trainers,still somehow managing tomake a resounding racket as she negotiated the metal stairs. Everywhere around her there was noise.Her own footsteps.Voices.Clangs,and assorted clatters.It never seemed to stop.Even at night calls cane out of the walls:women's voiceswishing others goodnight,passing on gossip,or even,some-times,threats. Orianaglanced up as a middle-aged woman approachedher.Known to one and all as Miss Clunes,she was dressed ina smart navy-blue skirt and white blouse.She smiled.'Well,Orrie,looks like this is it,then.Got everything?' Oriana glanced down ruefully at her small bag.I thinkso,miss,'she said quietly.Then smiled.'Any RembrandtsI may have forgotten,or diamond tiaras I might have leftbehind,will just have to be forwarded.' A girl,who looked barely sixteen,suddenly giggled.Shewas sitting by a radiator,reading Hello!magazine.That's agood one that is.Tiara.Hey,Shaz,we'll have to rememberthat.'She spoke to another teenage girl,busily smoking a cig-arette with far too much concentration.Oriana looked at herand wondered what she was on.And where she'd got it.Thenshe shrugged.It was none ofher business any more.Any of it. Miss Clunes also looked thoughtfully at Shaz,who wasvery much her business. 'Said all your goodbyes then?'the older woman glancedat Oriana quickly.‘Sorry you can't see Sandra.But she'll soonget back on enhanced,and then you can write.' Oriana nodded.But she doubted if her friend wouldwant her to write.She'd asked her not to.Oriana'understood.She understood perfectly. Miss Clunes walked across the dark green linoleumfloor to a heavy steel door and unlocked it with one of thekeys from the set chained to her waist.Behind her,Orianacould fel the eyes watching her.Most werefriendly.All wereenvious. As Miss Clunes opened the door and Oriana walkedthrough it,a chorus of calls sounded out behind her.'Goodluck,Orrie.?Lucky cow!'Don't do anything I wouldn't.'And others,some ribald,some wistful.Oriana turn

FAQs

Who is Oriana Foster in the opening chapter?

Oriana Foster is the protagonist preparing to leave a communal setting under supervision. She carries worn personal belongings and focuses on staying patient rather than confronting the past.

What role does Miss Clunes play?

Miss Clunes acts as Oriana’s guide and authority figure, escorting her through locked doors and handling procedural steps such as checking contents and obtaining signatures.

What is in the large brown envelope Oriana receives?

The envelope contains a few notes, some change, and Oriana’s outdated passport, along with personal items she chooses not to inspect in detail.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Riley