Reyhan is feeling lucky. She has almost managed to escape the house with minimal damage. The earlier incident with Cavidan and the tea was harmless. It made the older woman appear desperate and scared, and only required Reyhan to change her clothes. Finding out they moved her things from her and Emir's bedroom was a hit. Reyhan will admit it. That one had hurt. Feeling unwelcome and unwanted by Cavidan isn't new for Reyhan, but it still hurts.
But she survived. And the day is almost done. It's time to go back to the safety of her real home. While saying final goodbyes to Hikmet for the day, Reyhan is left alone with her uncle while Emir goes to have Sefer bring the car around for them.
"You really have to get better now, my dear sweet uncle," she tells the man. "You can't miss out on reaping the fruits of your labor. Who would have thought this marriage would work out. But you know what? We're happy."
The confession brings a smile to her face. And if she looks hard enough, she can almost imagine her uncle is smiling too.
"Nothing but good days from here on out," she promises him. "You raised a good son. And he knows how to love me. I'm happier than I could have ever imagined."
When she hears the door open behind her, she turns around, thinking it's Emir. But the smile drops from her face when she faces the one person she didn't want to see.
"Cemre."
"I guess it was only a matter of time before the trash blew back in," Cemre sneers at her.
"Not even pretending to be friendly anymore," Reyhan notices. Cemre apparently no longer sees a need to be a fake friend. "I suppose that's refreshing. I know exactly where you stand. But then again, after moving into my bedroom, I guess there's no point in pretending anymore."
"Let's face it," Cemre says. "You know it's only a matter of time before the change is permanent. Emir is meant to be mine. You're just a distraction, Canım. Now that you're back in my domain, we'll see who wins."
"This isn't a game, Cemre. This is my marriage. My life. My family." Reyhan steps up to Cemre and does something she's never done. She looks her dead in the eyes with all the confidence and self assurance she never had before. Emir loves her. She knows Emir loves her. And nothing Cemre can do can change that. "Do not try to go up against me."
Melisa tried, and failed. Reyhan isn't worried about Cemre and her petty mind tricks.
"I didn't know what I was up against before," Reyhan continues. "You had your true face hidden. But I see you, Cemre. I see you and I will fight you. Because Emir sees you too."
Cemre goes pale at that.
"Emir sees who you really are. He sees that you're no friend."
"Lies," Cemre says, her eyes starting to water. "Emir is mine. And I'm not going to let you take him from me."
"Emir was never yours, Cemre. The sooner you realize that, the better off we'll all be."
Cemre's tears turn into anger and her eyes darken. Reyhan will admit that the girl is quite scary.
"You clearly don't know what I'm capable of," Cemre says. "You clearly have no idea what all I did to you before. You're already more than halfway out of Emir's life and don't even know it."
"Before?"
"Does the name Vural ring a bell?" Cemre asks and then laughs when both recognition and panic fill Reyhan's eyes. "Of course, we didn't realize he would kidnap you. We were just setting it up to look like he was your secret lover. Do you know how easy it was to make Emir doubt you? Do you know how easy it will be to do it again? And maybe this time, the kidnapping will be an actual part of the plan. I know a lot of interesting people. People who will do anything for me. You wouldn't believe how easy it was to find someone to forge that document about the company shares."
Reyhan is feeling a little ill at the pride in Cemre's voice. She's actually bragging about all the terrible things she's done. When her head starts to spin, she looks around to find a seat, stumbling her way into it.
"What's going on in here?"
Emir is at the door, an angry look on his face. He glares at Cemre before finding Reyhan. His anger immediately turns to concern. She looks pale and ill.
"Reyhan? Are you alright?" He goes to kneel in front of her chair, brushing her hair out of her face so that he can see her. "Sweetheart?"
"I'm fine," she says, giving him a weak smile. "Just a little dizzy."
She looks up at Cemre noting the smug look is gone.
"And a little sick at what Cemre just told me."
"Yes," Emir sighs. He stands to face Cemre too, but takes a hold of Reyhan's hand to keep that connection. "We're all sick at what we just heard Cemre say. All of what she just said."
This time, the panic is in Cemre's eyes.
"Emir," she starts. "You misunderstood. And I'm sure Reyhan misunderstood too. I'm your friend, Emir. You know that. I wouldn't hurt you."
"When you hurt my wife, you hurt me," he snaps out. "And from what you just said, all you've done is hurt her. But that stops right here, right now, Cemre. You've thrown away a lifetime of friendship because of what? Jealousy?"
"Emir ..."
"No, Cemre! You don't get to speak. Not anymore. I've heard more than enough from you today. I've seen more than enough from you today. You think what you did was okay? Moving into my bedroom, moving my wife out? What kind of sick freak does that? You're done here. Get out of my bedroom. Get out of my house. Or I'll have you thrown out. Is that clear?"
He pulls Reyhan to her feet, pulling her into his arms for a hug.
"Are you okay to move now?" he asks, kissing her on the forehead.
She just nods, looking over at a livid Cemre.
"Let's go home," she says, suddenly needing to get out of this toxic place. Suddenly needing to get back to her daughter, her parents. People who love her. She's had enough of this place for the day.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The trip home is quiet. Reyhan has pulled inside herself, but she allows Emir to maintain the connection by holding her hand. She has her other hand gently caressing her belly. But other than that, she spends the whole ride home silently staring out her passenger side window.
"Are you okay?" he asks her when they pull up to Emine's house.
She finally turns to him and manages a small smile.
"Fine. Just tired. I'm going to go to bed I think."
"Or," he says, offering an alternative. "You go inside. Hug your mom, hug our baby girl, and go get you a nice shower. I'll bring you something to eat and take care of you the rest of the night."
Her smile gets a little bigger, and has some actual happiness behind it. She lifts her hand to caress his cheek.
"You really love me, don't you?"
"Don't ever doubt it," he says, leaning down to give her a kiss.
She goes into the house and he sits in the car for a minute. A minute turns into two and then he completely loses track of time. Next thing he knows, Emine is getting into the car next to him.
"What's happened? She looks terrible," she asks him.
"I don't even know where to begin, Emine anne," he sighs. "My dad was a little worse than I expected him to be. I almost didn't let Reyhan see him. But she would have taken that even harder. And for some reason, I just can't get it into my head how much my mother hates my wife. I don't understand her. How can the woman who raised me, who loved me, who gave birth to me, treat the woman I love like this?"
Emine says nothing. She just pats him on the hand and lets him talk.
"She got away with everything for months," he continues. "For months, she tortured Reyhan and made her life miserable. And I was blind to it all. I was a part of it all, really. Because the way I treated Reyhan probably made her more miserable than anything my mother or Cemre did."
"I take it Cavidan did something today?"
"While we were away, my mother let Cemre move in. Not just into the mansion, but into my bedroom. And they moved all of Reyhan's things to a guest room. She took great pleasure in telling Reyhan all about it," he tells her, letting out an unamused laugh. "Those two are so sick. And something tells me that I don't even know the half of what they're capable of."
No, he doesn't know, Emine thinks silently. She has seen Cavidan Tarhun in action over the years. She knows how the woman operates. It's the main reason Cavidan has never been able to become a part of the social club she so desperately wants to join. Every year she applies and every year, with advice from Emine, Suhelya denies her. Fortunately Cemre's mother is nothing like Cemre and doesn't trust Cavidan either.
But one thing Emine knows, she's not going to let Cavidan torment Reyhan anymore. The woman is soon going to understand that she's met her match. She's going to understand that actions have consequences. Emine is going to give Cavidan just enough rope and let the woman ruin herself. And then maybe Reyhan will be able to live the peaceful life she deserves.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emir and Reyhan visit Hikmet every day for a week before they decide to take Ayla. It's time for the girl to meet her paternal grandparents. Emir had called ahead and asked everyone to meet in the living room and he's pleased to see they are all waiting on them. He greets them all with a huge smile when he walks in.
"You look excited, Abi," Suna says with a smile that matches his own. "What's going on?"
"Reyhan and I have a little surprise for you all," he says mysteriously, looking over his shoulder as his wife and daughter walk in behind him. "One we think you all will love as much as we do."
He has to go back to get Ayla, the girl being unusually shy. She normally rushes head first into any situation. But she seems nervous today.
"What's the matter, Aylacığım?" he asks her when he squats down to her level. She just squeezes her eyes shut and wraps her arms around his neck. He has no choice but to pick her up and carry her. "I got you, Baby Girl."
"Are you ready?" he asks Reyhan, looking at her when he gets back to his feet. At her nod, they turn to go back into the living room.
They are met with gasps.
"Who is this little angel?" Suna asks, moving her chair closer to them.
Emir bends down so Suna can see Ayla and the little girl smiles at Suna's friendly face.
"Auntie Suna?" she asks quietly, looking at Emir.
"That's right, Baby," he says proudly. "You remember I showed you her picture before."
"This is Ayla," Reyhan explains to everyone else. "Our daughter."
More gasps.
"We adopted her," Emir adds.
"How wonderful," Melike says, coming over the little family. "What a little sweet one."
"This is Melike Teyze," Emir tells Ayla. "She took care of me when I was your age."
Ayla smiles at Melike and lets her kiss her cheeks. Emir takes her around to the others.
"This is Nigar. This is Sefer. And this," he says, stopping in front of Cavidan, giving her a warning glare. "This is my mother."
"Babaanne?"
Cavidan cringes when Ayla calls her grandmother. But when she gets another hard glare from Emir, she just sighs and finally looks at Ayla. But her quick perusal of the girl leaves her with an expression on her face that is as if she's smelling something bad.
"Where did you get her?" Cavidan asks. "I'm guessing she's some street child with a tragic backstory. You always have had a soft spot for strays."
"Anne!" Suna cries out in shock at her mother's harsh words.
"What? I bet I'm right." Cavidan finds a seat, no longer paying any attention at all to Ayla. She looks at Nigar. "Get me coffee."
"Right away, Cavidan hanım."
"Coffee? That's all you have to say?" Emir asks her, in complete shock over her disinterest in Ayla. "I tell you that you have a grandchild and you ask for coffee?"
"Grandchild? That's not my grandchild. You can't bring some strange child in here and expect me to take her into my arms. It's worse than when your father brought some strange woman home and expected me to accept her as my daughter in law. Never going to happen. Like I said ... strays. They're nothing to me."
Reyhan's hand goes to her stomach, feeling the need to protect her unborn child. She looks to Ayla to see her reactions. Right now, Ayla seems okay. She just looks confused. Reyhan would rather not expose her to anymore of Cavidan's obvious hatred. Reyhan will admit that despite the way Cavidan has treated her since the day they met, she's surprised Cavidan would be this hateful towards a child.
"Let's go introduce Ayla to Dayi," she suggests, trying to get Ayla away from the disappointment that is Cavidan. Especially before the woman insults them even more. "Let's give your mother time to get used to the idea."
Cavidan just scoffs and Reyhan realizes that she may be waiting on something that's never going to happen.
"She can meet him later," Emir says, taking Reyhan by the hand while still staring daggers at Cavidan. "Coming here was clearly a mistake. Let's go."
He turns and walks towards the exit. They get halfway back to the front door before Reyhan can stop him.
"Emir, wait," she pleads. "Don't do this. This is your home. She's your mother."
"I can't stand the way she treats you. Puts you down. And she did the same with Ayla. I won't stand for that."
"We have to work this out somehow," Reyhan tells him. "Because she's only going to continue to blame me for all of this. We have to figure out how to break this cycle. I don't want you losing your family because of me."
He lets out a heavy sigh and she can see he wants to be stubborn.
"Please, Emir. Our kids should know all of their family," she whispers, putting her hand on her belly.
He looks down to where her hand is and sighs again.
"I don't like how she hurts you."
"This is all new for her. Us being a family. You protecting me. Before, she thought she was protecting you from me," Reyhan reminds him. "But now, she probably thinks I've turned you against her. Maybe she doesn't even realize how much she's hurting you whenever she hurts me."
He pulls her to his chest. Kisses her on top of her head.
"You're too kind. She should have never hurt you in the first place," he whispers apologetically. "I'm so sorry I never stopped her before."
"Go talk to her," Reyhan orders. "Let her know she's not going to lose you. That's all she's afraid of. I'll take Ayla to see your dad."
"I'll go with you. Then I'll leave you and Ayla with him and come speak to my mother. I promise," he adds quickly when she gives him a suspicious look. "You're right. Maybe I just need to explain to her how things are now."
Her smile makes him happy. But he wishes he could be as optimistic as she is. He wishes he could trust that his mother's mind will be changed. But he knows his mother. There's no changing how she feels about Reyhan. He just wishes he knew why.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cavidan keeps her cool until everyone leaves her alone. Then she throws her coffee cup across the room, letting out a frustrated little scream.
"The nerve of that girl," she mutters. "Trying to trap my son with some dirty little gutter rat. Tricking him into giving that child the Tarhun name."
She won't stand for it. She's got to get rid of this girl. Both Reyhan and that child.
"Cavidan Teyze."
Cavidan sighs before turning to look at Cemre as Nigar leads her into the living room. Cemre tells Nigar to bring her coffee and suggests another one for Cavidan before making herself comfortable. Making herself at home. The girl is annoying, but she's useful. Cavidan needs her to do the heavy lifting in her plan to get rid of Reyhan. Cemre believes she will be Emir's next wife. Cavidan seriously doubts it. But stranger things have happened. Cavidan needs to stay on the girl's good side in any event.
"It's been a day, Cemre dear. My head is killing me."
"That looks like a Reyhan induced headache," Cemre says, sympathizing with her. Then she rolls her eyes. "That girl is the worst."
"Can this visit wait?"
"It can," Cemre drags out dramatically. "But I think what I have to tell you might make you feel better."
"You did what I asked?" Cavidan asks, her mood starting to perk up. "What was the result?"
"I managed to whisper the right words to the right people," Cemre reports. "The gossip will spread soon and Reyhan's reputation will be ruined. None of the women will want to be associated with her and they will dissuade their husbands from working with Emir."
"The company as a whole should be fine," Cavidan says, more to convince herself than Cemre. "But Emir takes too much pride in his work to let himself be considered unsuccessful. He won't be happy. If we convince Reyhan she's the cause of his failure, his unhappiness, she can then be easily persuaded to leave him. For his own good."
"And then she'll be out of our lives," Cemre smiles. "I love how your wicked mind works."
"Her mind is wicked," Emir agrees, stepping around the corner. "But what are you two plotting now?"
Cemre and Cavidan panic, looking to each other and wondering how much he heard.
Emir schools his features to remain calm. He doesn't want them to know he overheard every word. He had ducked out of the way when Cemre arrived and stayed hidden to listen to them. And it's a good thing he did.
"Well?" he prompts, when neither says anything. "What's going on with you two? You appear to be up to something."
"Nothing, Son," Cavidan says, pasting on a fake smile. "Just trying to come up with ways to make you forgive us. I know you were upset with us before you and Reyhan went to Ankara, but we've both seen the error of our ways."
"Listen, things have changed," he admits to them. "I know we all had our doubts about Reyhan before. But I have no doubts about her now. She's my wife and I love her. And I will stand by her, no matter what. It's important you two realize how important she is to me. When you hurt her, you hurt me. If you are against her, then you are against me. There will be no more trying to "protect" me from her. Because she's my everything. I protect her now. Even if it's against the two of you."
"Love?" Cemre breathes out in a disbelieving scoff. "You can't be serious."
"Cemre ..." he starts, warning in his voice.
"Cemre, dear," Cavidan says, grabbing the younger woman's arm to stop her from talking. "Emir says he loves her. We have to believe him. Let him live his life."
"But ..."
"Cemre," Cavidan stops her again, sending her a glare this time. "We're going to trust Emir's choices."
"Thank you, Anne. I appreciate that. All I want is to live a normal life with Reyhan and Ayla. You accepting them will go a long way to making that happen."
"Of course, Son."
She keeps the fake smile on her face until he leaves them alone.
"What were you even saying?" Cemre asks from between her clenched teeth. "What's this about accepting his choices? Accepting Reyhan? Are we letting go of our plan? And who is Ayla?"
"Ayla is a long, unbelievable story," Cavidan says, rubbing her temples. She doesn't want to think about that child right now. She's just another tool in Reyhan's arsenal to trap Emir. "But we go on as planned. Nothing changes. The sooner that girl is out his life, the better."
Standing around the corner, Emir hears it all. He promised Reyhan he'd talk to his mother and he did. But she's never going to give Reyhan a chance. She's never going to accept Ayla. Maybe not even the new baby. He tried, because Reyhan asked. But now, it's time to handle Cavidan Tarhun in his way. The time for 'talking' has passed.