Cavidan and Cemre walk towards Reyhan. Reyhan unfortunately doesn't see them until they get to her. But when she finally notices them, her heart sinks. They weren't supposed to be here. But nevertheless, here they are. And it's taking everything in her to not panic. She knows that showing these two women any signs of weakness will only make things worse for her. So gives her best effort at appearing fearless.
"Cavidan hanım. Cemre," she greets them with a forced smile. "This is a surprise. I didn't realize you'd be here."
"Who are you to decide if I'm here or not? I'm the one who should be asking what you are doing here," Cavidan snarls. "You can't just sneak into parties like this. What did you do? Use the Tarhun name to get in here? Shameless girl. You need to go. Now!"
"This isn't the place for you," Cemre says, pulling out her pilfered invitation. "Especially if you don't have one of these."
Reyhan narrows her eyes at the invitation. She knows for a fact that neither woman was on the guest list. So how did they get one? But it all makes sense when she focuses on the invitation and sees Suheyla hanım's name. Cemre apparently is using her mother's invitation.
"In fact, I bet security would toss you right out of here when they find out you don't have an invitation. Maybe I should call them over?" Cavidan challenges. "Or maybe you should just leave on your own before things get ugly. You've already embarrassed us enough as it is. What do you think Emir will think when he hears you've been kicked out of a party?"
Reyhan closes her eyes and sighs. She can't believe she has to deal with this. On today of all days. She's exhausted and her back is still aching. She was actually about to slip away for about an hour to rest. Her mother and Defne already agreed to handle the rest of the party. Dealing with these two was not what she was expecting. And frankly, she doesn't care what they do at this point. She just wants to go get off her feet for a bit.
"Do whatever you have to do, Cavidan hanım," Reyhan says wearily. "I don't have the energy to fight with you right now."
She tries to push past them, but Cavidan grabs her arm and pulls her to an alcove out of the public eye. Cemre goes off in the other direction and Reyhan is suddenly hoping she actually does bring security.
"Listen here, you little gold digger. You need to go. Or else," Cavidan threatens.
"Let go of me," Reyhan says, trying to pull her arm out of Cavidan's grip. But the older woman seems to be inhumanly strong and even tightens her hold. She gives Reyhan a little shove and has her backed up against the way with no escape. "Ow! You're hurting me!"
"I gave you a chance to get out of here. But I see you want to do this the hard way. Cemre will be back with security any minute. Then they'll toss you out of here. And when they do, I'll make sure everyone knows I have nothing to do with you."
"Stop this, Cavidan hanım. You're making a big mistake," Reyhan warns her. "Let me go before this gets out of hand."
"You're making me do this!" Cavidan explodes. "Why can't you just leave my son and this family alone? We don't want you here. When are you going to realize that?"
"Emir loves me," Reyhan says, tears in her eyes. "When are you going to realize?"
Cavidan gasps as if she had been slapped. Then she decides to reciprocate with an actual slap. She raises her hand to Reyhan and is about to let loose when her arm is suddenly stopped.
"What is going on out here?"
Emine stands between Cavidan and Reyhan, her hand still holding on to Cavidan.
"You were about to hit her!" Emine says incredulously.
"Emine hanım, you don't understand," Cavidan tries to explain. "This girl is trouble. I was trying to make sure she didn't ruin your party."
"Do you know who this girl is?" Emine asks, in a "how dare you put your hands on my child" kind of way. But Cavidan misinterprets the question.
"Unfortunately I do. She's currently married to my son," Cavidan admits. "But not for long. I'm getting her out of my family if it's the last thing I do. I do not claim her as a daughter in law."
"You don't claim her? That's presumptuous of you," Emine says, a cold humorless laugh escaping. "Maybe this girl doesn't claim you? Have you ever thought of that?"
Reyhan notices a crowd forming. Now isn't the time for this. Not with everyone watching. She puts a gentle hand on Emine's shoulder to stop her.
"Anne, don't. Lütfen," Reyhan pleads with her. "Not here. Not now."
Emine's harsh glare softens when she hears Reyhan's request. She drops Cavidan's arm and turns to face Reyhan, about to pull her into her arms. But again, Cavidan misinterprets everything and breaks into the moment with her ignorance.
"Anne? You dare call me your mother? I've already told you that you are nothing to me, girl," Cavidan spits out, thinking Reyhan was talking to her. "You bring nothing but shame and embarrassment to the Tarhun name. But we will be taking back that name as soon as we can. Then you, and that illegitimate brat you're carrying, will be out on the streets where you deserve."
The crowd gasps at the accusation. Reyhan also gasps, but hers is one filled with pain. She brings her hands down to cover her stomach. The pain from her back has all but exploded and now everything hurts. Her knees buckle and she's halfway to the floor before Emine can catch her.
"Reyhan? Kızım? What's wrong, sweetheart? Talk to me!" Emine cries in a panic. She's holding Reyhan, stroking her hair and trying to comfort her, but she has passed out. Emine turns her glare on Cavidan. "Look at what you've done to her!"
By now, Cavidan is starting to look confused and a bit pale. She knows she's made a huge miscalculation, but doesn't quite know where.
"What's going on here?" Cavidan asks. Concern is on her face, but not for Reyhan. For herself. She sees the way everyone is starting to look at her and she doesn't like it.
But Emine just ignores her. She starts shouting out instructions to everyone around. First to one of her assistants to call for an ambulance. Then to the security guards to take the party guests to another location and keep them out of the way. And finally to Defne, who's now sitting on the other side of Reyhan, to call for Emir. But he had apparently already heard the commotion and he's already coming down the hall towards them. He breaks into a run when he notices Reyhan crumpled on the ground.
"What happened?" he screams, gathering her into his arms. "Reyhan! Reyhan! Wake up, Sweetheart!"
Emine leaves Reyhan to him and stands to face Cavidan.
"You need to ask your mother." Emine's eyes are blazing with fire as she stares down at Cavidan. "She was the one who marched into this party uninvited and had the audacity to torment my daughter, threatening to have her put out of her own home."
"Daughter?" Cavidan squeaks out weakly. She's still confused, but that one word manages to hit home. "Did you say ... daughter?"
But everyone ignores her question, Emir spitting his own questions at her.
"Anne? Is that true? Did you do this?" The hurt mixed with anger mixed with disbelief and a bit of disgust is too much for Cavidan to see in her own son's eyes. So she just looks away.
Fortunately the ambulance arrives at that moment and Reyhan is taken away, Emir riding with her. Emine makes a quick announcement to end the party immediately and heads directly to the hospital after them. Emine's assistants and the rest of the staff make sure everyone leaves, but not before seeing security unceremoniously drag Cavidan and Cemre out of the house and off the premises.
It is then Cavidan fully realizes her mistake. Everyone is staring and whispering and pointing and laughing. Not at Reyhan, like she planned. No. Cavidan is the one who has ended up being the target of everyone's mockery and disdain.
"How could this have happened?" she mutters. "Where did I go wrong? What did that girl do?"
"Reyhan, Reyhan, Reyhan!" Cemre snaps, yelling at Cavidan. "Will you stop talking about her? Reyhan had nothing to do with what happened back there, Cavidan teyze. You did!"
Cavidan just stares at her young accomplice.
"Me? You were just as much a part of it all," Cavidan snaps back.
"I didn't come to this party for you to make me seem like some homewrecker," Cemre sobs, her face full of tears. "After what just happened in there, that's exactly what I look like. Some delusional, desperate homewrecker waiting for a man to leave his pregnant wife for me. A wife he clearly adores despite the rumors you tried to start. The way he acted back there with her only made us look like desperate liars."
"Cemre, calm down," Cavidan says, trying to de-escalate the situation. "This is just a setback. We can still ..."
"No! We can't," Cemre interrupts her. "I'm done. Done with everything. But most of all, I'm done with you!"
Cemre runs and jumps in her car, not waiting for Cavidan. She starts it and drives away, leaving Cavidan standing on the curb still.
The day has not turned out like she planned. Instead of endearing herself to Emine Yilmaz, she now appears to be an enemy. Cavidan still has no idea what happened, but she knows it somehow has to be Reyhan's fault. All of it. And now more than ever, Cavidan is determined to make that girl pay. Enough is enough.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Enough is enough.
Emir stares at his sleeping wife, still fending off bouts of fear at how he almost lost her and the baby. He can't close his eyes without remembering the flashing lights and the blaring siren of the ambulance as it flew them towards the hospital. He can't forget the way the doctors wouldn't let him in the room while they examined her. The wait had seemed endless.
But thankfully, everything turned out to be fine. The doctors feared it was early labor and gave her medication as a precaution. She had to stay in the hospital for two days, but was released this morning with strict orders to rest and avoid stress.
She's home now, but Emir's fear is still there. His mother did this. And he doesn't know if he'd ever be able to forgive her if anything had happened to Reyhan. He honestly isn't sure he'll be able to forgive her now. She's gone too far. Enough is enough. He's tired. Terrified. Angry.
"Emir?"
He turns when he hears a sleepy voice call to him. He can't think about his mother right now. Reyhan needs him.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," he teases, leaning down to give her a light kiss. "How are you feeling?"
"Really good," she smiles. "Rested. Relaxed."
"That's exactly what I want to hear," Emir says, returning her smile.
The doctors had prescribed her a very mild sedative to help settle her. The stress of her encounter with his mother added to the fatigue from the party and some dehydration made for an unhealthy mix that all contributed to her landing in the hospital. The sedative gave her the much needed downtime to become healthy and restored again.
"Ayla?" she asks, looking for their daughter.
"Zafer and Defne have her," he explains. "Fortunately she was napping when we left for the hospital, so she missed all of that. Defne and Zafer took her home with them as a distraction. She just thinks she's having a mini vacation. I'll have them bring her back in the morning if you feel up to it."
"I do miss her, but the quiet is nice."
They can't help but laugh. Quiet is definitely not the word to use to describe Ayla. The girl has definitely come out of her shell. It's actually good to see. She had been comfortable with them from the beginning, but there was also still a lot of fear and reserve. Maybe even a little bit of doubt. This was a little girl who had been passed around and passed over her entire life. It was natural that she held back a little. But with every passing day, she seems to become more and more confident in their love for her and that she's a part of their family forever. Every day, they're seeing new things emerge from inside of her. She's just becoming more and more amazing.
But still ... the quiet is nice, Emir thinks to himself as he climbs onto the bed to lay next to Reyhan. He pulls her into his arms and takes a deep breath, inhaling her perfect scent. For now, he just enjoys this time with her. For now, he can forget about everything else and be thankful that she's okay and that their baby is okay. Be grateful that he has good people to depend on to take care of Ayla.
"I never realized I could ever possibly be as happy as I am right now," he tells her. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and it terrified me when I thought something had happened to you. My heart ached at seeing you in yet another hospital bed."
"But I'm fine," she assures him. She takes his hand and moves it to her belly. "We're fine. And we're all going to be fine."
"She almost took you away from me," he whispers, caressing her bump. "She almost took you both from me. She tried to take my sister away. And there's a high probability she tried to take my father away. I just don't know what to do about her anymore. I can't let her continue to hurt us like this."
She goes quiet at that. But he can feel her heart start to race. He's scared her.
"Shhh!" He kisses her forehead. "Forget about what I said. You worry about you and this baby. Let me worry about my mother. I'm not going to let her hurt you again. I promise."
"I'm tired," Reyhan admits. "And I don't know what else to do. I've tried everything, even just staying out of her way. But she managed to find me anyway."
"No, Sweetheart. This isn't on you," Emir continues to soothe her. "This is all on my mother. Money and power is all she cares about. And she's sacrificed us all for it. For whatever reason, she feels you're blocking her from getting what she wants. And it's on me for not taking a harder stand against her."
Tears burn his eyes as he thinks about his mother. She raised him. Loved him. He'd like to think she's made him the person he is today. So how can she be so cruel and vicious to the people he loves? How can she leave him in the position where he has to choose between her and his family? His wife. His children. How has he never seen this side of her?
All those questions and more continue to plague him. He's relieved when Reyhan drifts back to sleep, but his mind keeps him awake. All he knows is that he's holding his entire world in his arms and he won't let anyone, not even his mother, take away this tiny woman who owns his whole heart.
His phone rings and he reaches over to quickly silence it to avoid waking Reyhan. Then he quietly gets out of bed and goes into the other room to answer it. It's his uncle with an update on his father. He's been praying daily for good news. But what Kemal tells him is nothing he ever expected. And it changes everything.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cavidan has done nothing for the past two days but think about that party. She made a fool of herself, she can admit that now. No. Reyhan made a fool of her, she corrects herself. This is all Reyhan's fault.
Everyone is talking about the party, and not in the way Cavidan had hoped. Reyhan's name is on everyone's lips. She is the center of all the gossip, just as Cavidan had planned. But not in the way Cavidan had imagined. As it turns out, Reyhan is the daughter of the queen. She has gone from a zero to the pinnacle of society. And Cavidan has very publicly disavowed her..
"How could I have been so stupid?" Cavidan asks herself, not for the first time since the party.
The whole situation is a mess. She can't go anywhere without getting stares and people whispering about her. And they're not even whispering quietly. They don't care that she hears them.
"Did you hear what Cavidan said? About her own daughter in law? Shameful," one had said.
"Cavidan ruined that perfectly lovely party, and for what?" another had asked.
"Cavidan Tarhun is the one bringing shame to the Tarhun name and she doesn't even have the sense to realize it. Imagine being the one who tried to send that sweet girl. Although, Reyhan would probably be better off as a Yilmaz, if you ask me. Cavidan had better learn to grovel and make it up to her."
That comment had stung. But Cavidan has to admit the idea has merit. She would of course never truly make up with Reyhan. But the girl is naive and hopelessly hopeful. Cavidan can easily make her believe she's remorseful and wants to embrace her now. Tricking Reyhan has never been a problem. Cavidan is so much smarter and knows how to play this game. The game is still the same, but the venue has now changed. Cavidan will play the model mother in law just to get inside the world of Emine Yilmaz. And that's when she'll attack and take Reyhan down for good.
Reyhan won't even know what hit her.
"Nigar!" Cavidan yells, her spirits suddenly lifted.
What had once seemed a hopeless situation suddenly doesn't seem so bad. Cavidan can turn this around. She's sure of it. She's not only going to send that little hillbilly Reyhan back to her village, she's going to make the girl regret ever leaving it in the first place. Because now, Cavidan wants more than justice. She wants revenge.