The reception she gets around town now is a lot colder than all the interest and attention she got before the vacation. Looks. Stares. Whispers. They're not even trying to be discreet. It's all very noticeable. But she really doesn't care about any of it. All Reyhan really cares about is the reason why she's suddenly the hot topic of gossip again: they all think Emir left her. And if they all think he left her, that means no one is looking for him. He's lost and no one realizes he needs to be found.
"Mama?" a still clueless Ayla calls to her, tugging on Reyhan's hand outside the ice cream shop.
Ayla had had a doctor's appointment earlier and Reyhan had promised her ice cream as a treat. But Reyhan didn't realize so many people would just be openly looking. Staring. Whispering. And she can't risk Ayla hearing gossip about Emir. The girl just thinks Emir had to take an emergency trip out of town for a few days. It may make her a terrible mother, but Reyhan just can't handle both of their heartbreaks. So she's been hiding the truth from Ayla. But if they stay out in the open much longer, the little girl will hear things she shouldn't.
"Mama, what's wrong?" Ayla asks again, her huge eyes staring right at Reyhan.
"Nothing, baby," Reyhan says, forcing a smile to her face. "But change of plans. We're going to get this ice cream to go and then go home and build our own giant sundae. You know you and your Dede love that."
Ayla eagerly agrees and claps her hands happily. Reyhan lets out a sigh of relief. They get back to the car and instead waits as the driver goes inside for the ice cream. Disaster averted ... this time. But Reyhan knows it's only a matter of time before Ayla finds out. Emir needs to be found soon for all of their sakes. Reyhan turns to look out the window and blinks away a tear before Ayla can see.
"Don't worry, Mama. Daddy will be home soon," Ayla assures her. And for some reason, Reyhan believes her. She pulls the girl into her lap for kisses and cuddles. Ayla's giggles heal her heart a little.
Too soon the driver is back and Reyhan has to get Ayla strapped into her car seat. The little girl continues to hold her hand the whole trip back, almost as if she knows Reyhan needs the comfort.
When they get home, Emine meets them at the door. Reyhan looks expectantly at her, always waiting on news from Emir, but Emine just subtly shakes her head. No news today. At Emine's instruction, the driver takes Ayla and the ice cream into the kitchen while Emine leads Reyhan to the porch to sit.
"Fresh air," Emine explains. "You and that baby need it."
"You're probably right," Reyhan agrees. "Everytime I'm in the bedroom, I can still feel and smell Emir. And I miss him so much."
The tears come again as she rubs her belly. This time she lets them. It's worse when she stops them.
"I don't know what to do anymore," she admits tearfully. "I don't know what I'll do if I never see him again. Why can't we find him? Does he not want to be found?"
"No! Don't even think that," Emine insists. "You know Emir loves you more than anything. He loves Ayla and this baby more than anything. And there's also Suna. His father. His uncle. He'd never just disappear like this. You know that. His mother is the only one insisting on spreading that insane story. And you know she never tells the truth. Don't believe her."
"It's all anyone is talking about," Reyhan whispers, looking down at her belly. Not much longer now and the baby will be here. Will he get to meet his father? No matter how many times people tell her not to think that way, she can't help but wonder.
"Do you care about the gossip?" Emine asks.
Reyhan just shakes her head.
"Only because it means no one is helping to look for him," Reyhan says with a sigh. "Makes it that much harder to find him."
"Don't you worry about that too much, Canım. Zafer has a whole team of private investigators on this. And your father has something in the works."
Emine and Reyhan both look up when a car pulls up and Murat gets out.
"Ahh, there's your father now. We'll see if he has any news."
Murat gets out of the car and comes to the porch where the women are, giving them both a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat across from them.
"How's my angel?" he asks Reyhan, giving her hand a squeeze.
Something turns over in her heart. It's been a long time since she's had a father. Her own father died so long ago she hardly remembers him. It had always just been Reyhan and her mother for the longest time. Then when her mother died, it was just Reyhan. She thought marrying Emir would at least give her a family again. But Emir ignored her when she was lucky, glared angrily at her when she wasn't. And her uncle was gone so much, leaving her to the mercies of Cavidan. Reyhan was more alone in that mansion than she'd ever been in her life. But everything changed in Ankara. She has a family now. This is her family now. This is her father, ready to slay all the dragons for her. She gives him a watery smile and pulls his hand to her cheek.
"I'm fine, Babacığım. I know you're going to make sure we're all fine."
"I will," he promises, his vow solemn. "Cavidan Tarhun isn't going to get away with this. I've made sure of it."
"Baba?" Reyhan says warily, giving him a suspicious glare. "What did you do?"
Murat is quiet for a long moment before he answers.
"Let's just say that I gave her the necessary incentive to bring her son home," Murat finally says. "She claims she doesn't know where he is, but even if that's true, I'm sure she can find out. She has until the end of the week."
"Or else...?"
Murat just looks at Reyhan and smiles.
Oh Baba, Reyhan thinks to herself. What have you done?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, Cavidan is also all smiles. For now. Little does she know, her whole life is about to change.
"I told you my son wanted nothing to do with that girl. None of you believed me. But who's laughing now?"
Cavidan lets out a cackle and lifts the glass of water to her mouth for a long, satisfying drink. She's finally able to show her face in public again and she couldn't be happier. Today's lunch with the society ladies turned out to be everything she expected. Emine Yilmaz is noticeably absent. That's because Cavidan didn't invite her. It's time that woman is put in her place. Half of the women here don't care too much for Emine anyway. They had wanted their daughters to marry Emine's oldest son, Barış. Twenty five years later, they're still holding a bit of a grudge that Emine deemed none of their daughters worthy enough for her precious son. Cavidan can use that to her advantage now and get these women on her side.
"It would seem Emine Yilmaz chose wrong this time," Cavidan says, trying to bring the women further to her side. "I tried to warn her that my soon to be ex daughter in law was no good. But you see how she ended up kicking me out of that party and embarrassing me. Looks like she's the one about to be embarrassed now."
Cavdian hides her smirk when some of the other women start to nod in support. It looks like she's finally found a way to make that good for nothing peasant useful. Cavidan doesn't even want her to leave town anymore. In fact, it's better that Reyhan is still in Istanbul. The more people see her, the more people will come to Cavidan's side. There's no way Cavidan can lose now.
"Cavidan hanım ... We need a word with you."
The restaurant manager comes to her with an embarrassed look on his face. The interruption annoys Cavidan. She gives him an expectant look, waiting on him to speak.
"In private would be best," the man adds quietly.
"Good lord, just spit it out man," Cavidan snaps, her patience gone.
"Your credit card has declined."
All eyes go to her and she feels her cheeks redden in both anger and embarrassment.
"Impossible," she says. "And even so, the Tarhuns have an account here. My husband and his associates have had numerous business dinners here. You don't want that to stop, do you? We will gladly take our business elsewhere."
"I'm sorry," the man says again.
"Let me speak to your manager," Cavidan demands.
"I am the manager, Cavidan hanım. Listen, if you could just come with me, your accountant is on the line. He'd like to speak with you."
"I will not," Cavidan snaps. "I'm going to sit here and continue to enjoy lunch with my friends. Tell that useless accountant to get down here and clean up this mess or he's fired. I'm not dealing with this."
"Very well, madame." The manager gives her a nod and walks away.
"The nerve of these people," Cavidan says to her now silent companions. "Don't they know who I am?"
"That may be the problem," one brave woman speaks up. "You haven't exactly kept this business with your son a secret. Him leaving his pregnant wife just days before she gives birth isn't great for the image of your company. I've been hearing whispers of an internal shake up happening soon. Possibly even a takeover from the outside. Your board of directors doesn't like not having any leadership. With your husband being sick, they expect your son to be here. But your son is also gone. And for less than admirable reasons."
"What are you talking about? My son is brave for getting out of that situation," Cavidan insists.
"Not everyone thinks so," someone else admits. "I understand if he was in a terrible marriage. But she's pregnant. Him leaving her isn't sending the right optics."
Cavidan gets angrier and angrier the more her companions speak. So she decides to put an end to it all.
"I'm not going to sit here and listen to any of this anymore," Cavidan says, rising from her seat. "You all will regret this."
She storms off, realizing perfectly well what she's doing. Let someone else figure out how to pay the bill. She has bigger issues to worry about. Someone is trying to ruin the Tarhun holding. And she's pretty sure she knows exactly who's to blame.
"Reyhan," she growls.
When she gets her hands on that girl, no one will be able to hold her back. This time she will end that peasant for good.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Tell me about Reyhan."
Emir gives the doctor a shocked look. This is the first time he's asked about Reyhan. A little sliver of hope begins to emerge from the darkness. Emir has been here so many days that he was starting to doubt he'd ever get to leave. But maybe this is a good sign. Maybe the doctor will finally be willing to listen to him. Or better yet, let Emir call home.
"My wife. The mother of my children. She's my everything," Emir says with a wistful smile before turning his tone into a pleading one. "Please. I beg you. I need to get back to her. To my family. To my home."
"But according to your records, that family no longer exists, Emir," the doctor says. "Why are you living in the past? Why haven't you been able to accept the end of your marriage? Reyhan left you and you have moved on."
"With Cemre?" Emir just laughs. "Never. Doctor, I know she's convinced you of this whole, insane story. But none of it is true. No, I take that back. There's probably enough of it that's true so that some parts can be verified. For instance, Cemre and I have known each other all of our lives. We used to be friends ... or so I thought. And it's true that neither Reyhan or I wanted to be married at first. We were strangers and my father manipulated this marriage to suit his own purposes. And I'll admit that I did try to divorce her several times in the beginning. But things changed."
"What changed?"
Emir just shrugs.
"Maybe I changed? Maybe she did? I don't really know," Emir admits. "She got sick. And we had to leave home. And while we were away, we only had each other. While we were away, we became each other's family. We fell in love."
Emir gets nervous when the doctor takes a long moment to scribble madly in his notebook. He can't help but wonder what he's writing. Or if he finally believes Emir.
"Listen," Emir says when the doctor remains silent. "Just let me call home. You can speak with Reyhan yourself and you'll know I'm not making any of this up. Please. I've made this suggestion nearly every day I've been in here but no one will listen to me. We can easily clear up this mess with one simple phone call."
Emir gives him a phone number and the doctor jots it down. He makes no promises before leaving, their session of the day over.
Back in his office, the doctor gives his notes on Emir a thorough read through. And again, he gets the feeling that something with this situation just isn't right. His patient is definitely telling the truth. But the question is, is it the actual truth or simply a version of reality he's managed to convince himself is the truth? It contradicts what the woman claiming to be his wife has said. And even what Emir's own mother has said. But for some reason, he wants to believe Emir.
"Only one way to find out."
The doctor picks up his phone and dials the number Emir gave him. It rings several times before the voicemail picks up. This is definitely not something that should be left in a message. So he hangs up and tries the call again. This time it connects. But there's no voice on the other end.
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? I'm looking for a Reyhan Tarhun."
On the other end, Emine stares in confusion at the number on the screen. She had answered the ringing phone because Reyhan is taking a nap and Emine didn't want it to wake her. But the number calling makes no sense. It's a number she recognizes. But why would this number be calling Reyhan? How did he even get Reyhan's number?
"Hello?" the voice says again and Emine realizes she's said nothing. So she lifts the phone to her ear to finally speak.
"Barış? Oğlum?" she says, still confused by what's happening. "Is that you, Son?"
It takes a lot to shock Doctor Barış Yilmaz, but this is definitely something he didn't see coming. He looks at this phone to make sure he dialed the right number. And sure enough, it's the number Emir gave him to reach Reyhan. But this is not Reyhan on the other end of the call.
"Anne?"