"Anne? Why are you answering this phone?" Doctor Barış asks, confusion growing by the minute.
"Why are you calling this phone?" his mother counters.
He just sighs in frustration. Emine Yilmaz is a force of nature even he can't go against. It's one reason why he left home so long ago and never returned. His mother is best in small doses. He loves her of course. She's his mother. But their personalities never quite meshed. He had needed to leave home if he wanted to continue to get along with her. So he did. As soon as he was eligible for military duty, he left. He came back briefly when his duty ended, but by that time, she was trying to marry him off to one of her empty headed socialites. So 25 years ago, he left for good. He hasn't seen his parents in about 2 years, hasn't spoken to them in about 6 months. And that's when it hits him.
"Oh," he says when it all starts to come together. It's like a light bulb suddenly came on inside his brain. "That girl you and Baba essentially adopted. I remember you telling me about her when we last spoke. Reyhan. I knew that name sounded familiar when he said it."
"When who said it?" his mother asks frantically, jumping on his last words. "Barış, Son. Who's been talking about Reyhan? How did you get her number?"
"Do you know a man named Emir?"
His mother gasps and he starts to get concerned at her silence. He's about to call out to her when she finally speaks.
"Sorry. I needed to step outside. I don't want Reyhan to hear me," she says, her voice lowered.
"Did you really say Emir? Emir Tarhun? Have you seen him? Is he the one asking about Reyhan? Son, what's going on?"
"That's what I was hoping you'd be able to tell me," he says, letting out a sigh. This has suddenly gotten very complicated. He really needs to figure out what's going on. "I can't say much because of confidentiality laws, unfortunately. So let's just say that I have a patient who may or may not have a connection to Reyhan."
He almost laughs at the very unlady like curse his mother utters. But this matter is too serious. If what he's thinking is true, then his patient has been held against his will at this hospital. He's essentially a hostage. A turkish citizen being held hostage in a greek hospital against his will. This isn't good. This is an international incident waiting to happen. His panic only grows when he gets an incoming message from his mother. It's a picture. A picture of his patient.
"That's Emir," his mother explains. "Reyhan's husband. The two were on vacation with some friends when Emir disappeared right from off the beach. We've been searching for him ever since. The police stopped looking because his mother claimed he left on his own. But Reyhan doesn't believe that. Neither do your father and I. Emir wouldn't leave like that."
"This man is my patient," Barış finally admits. "A woman claiming to be his wife brought him in and said he needed treatment for a drug overdose."
"Drugs?" Emine gasps. "Never."
"I believe you. The man shows no signs of being a drug user. And he's been saying all along that Cemre has been lying."
"Of course, it's Cemre," Emine sighs in exasperation. "That girl is obsessed with him. And she's crazy. I'm not surprised she's in this. Especially if his mother has been cooperating. That woman is just plain evil."
Barış had known something wasn't right with this whole situation from the start. But he had nothing but Cemre's word to go on. Nothing but Emir's mother's word. Why would both women lie? But that's exactly what they did. And Emir had been telling the truth the whole time. Barış feels guilty for keeping the man separated from his family. A family they apparently have in common. Talk about a small world. But that's a topic he'll revisit later. He's not sure how he feels about a new "sister" dropping into his life. But he does know it's time to reunite her with her husband.
"I have so many questions," he confesses. "But I think the only question that matters right now is when are you going to come retrieve your son in law?"
He says it jokingly. But he can't deny the twinge of jealousy he feels that these strangers have become children for his parents.
"As soon as your father can get the jet ready. That's going to be the best way for Reyhan to travel at this stage of her pregnancy. I doubt we will be able to convince her to stay home and wait for us."
He furrows his brow at that, unexpected feelings of concern coming to him. He is a doctor after all. This is definitely not something a pregnant woman should be going through. He's not sure what kind of game Cemre is playing, but it's hard to believe anyone could be this heartless.
"Are you sure it's going to be a good idea to bring her here?"
"She's dying without him, Oğlum," his mother sighs, the despair clear in her voice. "Being without him is far worse than anything she'll face coming to get him."
"He calls out for her in his sleep," Barış admits. "He needs her too. These two seem like they have something special. So how about we get them back together as soon as possible."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Things have gone from bad to worse for Cavidan. Once she gets home from her disastrous luncheon with the social ladies, she discovers that her financial woes have reached the household staff. With the money and accounts frozen, no one can get paid and have been forced to go on vacation. Cavidan had already used all the funds kept in the safe, so she's left with nothing. Just the food currently on the shelves.
"What did you do, Anne?" Suna demands to know. "What's happening? Why is everyone except for Melike abla leaving?"
Thank goodness for small favors. At least Melike is still here. That's at least something. Even though the woman doesn't know how to mind her own business.
"I didn't do anything," Cavidan claims. "It's that faithless peasant your father forced Emir to marry. Those people she lives with are behind this, I just know it. I told you that girl was trouble. Look at what's happening to us now. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before she came into our lives."
"Anne, that doesn't make sense. What does Reyhan have to do with anything?"
"She forced your brother to leave, that's what," Cavidan snaps. "Now, the board of directors are having to fight off a hostile takeover or something. The holding is in trouble because neither your brother or your father are here to handle business."
"My brother is missing. Not gone," Suna says, starting to get upset. "Don't these people have a conscience? We need help finding him. Not this."
"Emir left on his own. Because of that girl."
"You know that isn't true!" Suna screams. "My brother would never leave me without a word. He'd definitely never leave Reyhan and Ayla. He'd never let the holding suffer."
"Suna ..."
"No! I don't believe it. But you don't seem to be worried, so you must know where he is. I just doubt he's there of his own free will. Get him back home. Now," Suna says, turning to leave her mother alone.
Cavidan just shakes her head. Suna has no idea what she's talking about. Besides, Cavidan had already realized she needed to bring Emir home. Unfortunately, nothing is as simple as she thought it would be. This whole thing has gotten out of control. Especially since Cemre is the one in control.
"Ah, Cemre," she sighs, shaking her head. She takes her phone out and dials Cemre's number. "You better answer me this time."
She's been trying to call the girl since all day. Because Suna is right. Emir needs to come home as soon as possible. Or they risk losing everything.
"Cemre!" She breathes a sigh of relief when the phone is finally answered. "Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for hours. This is important. You need to bring Emir back right away."
Cavidan spends a few minutes explaining everything to her, making sure she knows how dire their circumstances have become. But after she finishes, Cemre is just quiet.
"Why should any of this concern me?" Cemre finally asks. "I have Emir where I want him finally. No ties to home. No ties to family. No ties to the holding. All he has is me. This is what I've always wanted. Why would I let him go now?"
"Cemre!" Cavidan gasps. "Don't do this. We're in this together. You can't let me burn like this."
"Oops, I have to go," Cemre says with a giggle. "The doctor is coming to talk to me about my husband. Sorry about what's going on with you. But that just isn't my problem anymore."
"Cemre! Cemre!"
But Cemre has ended the call and turned off the phone. No matter how many times Cavidan tries to call back, she can't reach her. She unfortunately doesn't know exactly where Cemre and Emir are. All she knows is that it's some hospital in Greece. She doesn't know the hospital's name or where in Greece it is. And she's suddenly feeling very foolish for rushing into this plan with Cemre. She knows the girl is impatient and desperate to get Emir. This is why Cavidan had always made the plans in the past. Cemre has always been too short sighted. All she's ever wanted has been Emir. And now that she has him, nothing else matters to her. All of that hard work and Cavidan is exactly where she tried to avoid being ... out of money and publicly humiliated. Things definitely didn't turn out the way she expected.
She has only one person left to call. And with so much bad blood between them, she's not sure he'll even answer. But he's her only hope. She reluctantly dials the number.
"Kemal," she simply says when the man answers, no other pleasantries exchanged between the two. "There's a problem."
She explains what's going on and her only consolation is that he seems to be getting just as upset about the whole situation as she already is.
"Tell me again, Cavidan," Kemal snaps. "Start at the beginning. How did this happen? Where is Emir? What does Murat Yilmaz have to do with anything?"
"All I know is that he left," she lies easily. Because at this point, she almost believes her own lies. "You know he never wanted to marry Reyhan. He never wanted to marry anyone. You know how he is. Is this really a surprise to you?"
She gives him only a moment to let her words sink in. Because if she gives him time to think about it, he'll realize how much Emir changed. How much that girl changed him. Not only is the financial future of the family at risk, but so is Emir's freedom. She has to get Kemal on her side.
"Murat Yilmaz wormed his way into Emir's affections while they were in Ankara. And now that both Emir and Hikmet are out of the picture, Murat is using this opportunity to make a move on the holding," Cavidan explains. "That stupid girl is determined to get my money no matter what. She couldn't get it from Emir. Now she's using other people."
"Cavidan, this makes no sense," Kemal sighs in frustration. But Cavidan can tell she's getting to him.
"Talk to the lawyers and accountant. Talk to the board of directors. They'll tell you that Murat Yilmaz is behind all of this. They gave me until the end of the week to produce Emir."
"Let me make some calls," Kemal tells her. "I'll handle this. And I'll handle Murat Yilmaz. No one is taking the holding from the Tarhuns."
Cavidan can only smile. For once, Kemal the Robot will be useful to her. She's never had a need for her husband's younger brother. She's never cared for him and the feeling has been quite mutual. But they have a common goal now. She'll let him be the one to get his hands dirty. She'll just sit back and watch the show. This should be good.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emine was right. Once Reyhan found out Emir's location, there was no leaving her behind. It was all anyone could do to get Reyhan to wait on an approval from her doctor for her to fly, even on a private jet. But Reyhan wouldn't take no for an answer. The only reason she's maintaining the little patience she has left is because they're waiting on Zafer and Defne to get there. Defne will be taking Ayla home with her while Zafer will be going with them to get Emir.
"Reyhan, why don't you just let us handle this," Emine tries one last time to convince her. "Zafer, your father, and I will make sure we bring Emir back to you. You don't need to deal with this."
"Anne, how do you expect me to stay now that I know where he is? I have to do this. I have to see him with my own eyes. And I have to know he's really okay," Reyhan explains. She's pale and the dark shadows under her eyes make Emine very concerned. But there's no talking her out of this.
Emine sighs in relief when the doorbell rings. It's about time.
They've all been scrambling around for hours trying to make this trip happen. Securing the private jet. Getting Reyhan's doctor's permission. Setting things up with Defne to babysit Ayla. Making the arrangements with Barış on how to handle Emir's release. That part is actually turning out to be more complicated than anything else. Barış has had to jump through some hoops in order to avoid any diplomatic issues. Plus he has to be the one to handle keeping Cemre unaware until they get there. Who knows what other tricks she'll try. Until they can get Emir his proper identification, he's a bit at Cemre's mercy. For Emir's safety, they both have to be surprised by this "rescue" mission.
"Finally," Emine exclaims. "That must be Zafer."
But Emine is very wrong this time. It's not Zafer. It's a very angry Kemal.
"Kemal abi? Hoşgeldiniz," Reyhan says, giving him an uncertain greeting due to her confusion at seeing him there at that time. "What are you doing here?"
Kemal looks around the room and gives Emine and Murat murderous glares.
"Come, Kızım," he says, grabbing onto Reyhan's arms. "I'm getting you away from these vultures. You're coming with me."