The Price of Pride

Chapter 26

"It's just like that place in Ankara," she says with a smile. "How did you find this place?"

"It's a family chain," he explains as he helps her out the car. "Owned by some brothers. They have locations in Ankara, here, and also Izmir, I believe. But I thought since this was one of our favorite places there, that it would be nice to bring a little bit of Ankara here for you. So we never forget how happy we were."

"This is perfect! I'm actually starving."

He just laughs. There's that healthy appetite he loves.

"The only thing that would make this better is if Ayla were here too. She loves ..."

She stops mid sentence, letting out a gasp when she sees Ayla running towards them. Emir intercepts the enthusiastic little girl and lifts her up into his arms before she can go crashing into Reyhan. Reyhan gives him a watery gaze.

"You always know how to make me happy," she says, amazed at the depth of his love for her. "You always know exactly what I need."

Emir waves to one of the drivers from Emine's home. One of his messages earlier arranged to have Ayla brought here to meet them for dinner. He knew it's what Reyhan would want. And he was right. He can't stop his smile. He loves when he can make her happy. It's one of his daily goals. Nothing makes him happier than seeing this look on her face and knowing he put it there.

"Let's go eat," he tells his girls, wrapping his free arm around Reyhan as he leads them inside the restaurant.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I spoke with Kemal today."

Cemre just rolls her eyes at her mother's words. Cemre has managed to successfully avoid the weekly summons from her mother for months now. But this time, the summons came with threats Cemre couldn't ignore. So here she is sitting across from the woman having dinner.

"Kemal said they found a place to send Hikmet," her mother continues. "So it looks like you won't be needed at the mansion anymore. You can come home now. Especially now that Emir and Reyhan are back. Let that family have some privacy."

"Family? Reyhan isn't family. She's only been around for five minutes. If she's not going to be a true daughter of that house, then I will."

"No, Cemre. You won't. And you never will be," Suheyla says, her heart breaking for her daughter. "You need to realize that Emir is married. To Reyhan."

Cemre rolls her eyes again. Her mother doesn't understand. She never has and Cemre sees now that she never will. Cemre was born to be with Emir. And if she's patient enough, he will come to realize that fact. She was so close before. With Cavidan teyze's help, she had nearly sent that peasant girl running back to her little village. And then Emir would have been hers. Their wedding would have been the social event of the year. Their story would have been talked about by everyone. They would forget about that insignificant nobody named Reyhan. Emir never wanted to marry her anyway. He'll thank Cemre for getting rid of her.

"No, he won't thank you," Suheyla says, giving Cemre a strange look making Cemre realize she must have said that last part out loud.

"He will," Cemre insists. "He doesn't love her. Doesn't want her. I have to save him."

"Cemre," her mother sighs impatiently. "Stop. Just stop this now. You and Emir grew up together. But he's never seen you as anything other than a friend. Maybe even as a sister. Whether he loves Reyhan or not isn't your business. But you have to accept that he's married to her. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Cemre just shrugs and takes a sip of her wine.

"I guess we'll see which one of us is right about this," she says smugly.