Eda Yildiz stared at the floating money pit in front of her, why her husband thought that this had been a good idea she didn't know but she was so far invested in the damned thing that in order to sell it she had to put more money into it. Today she had paid to have a new bilge pump installed in the forty-four foot cabin cruiser. More money that he had spent without asking her opinion. Berat Kaya had been very good at spending every dime he made and many of the ones that Eda made.
Everything with the man had to be a grand gesture, he didn't understand the meaning of simple, quiet, down to earth. He liked flashy. Berat hid all of these tendencies when they were courting, it wasn't until four months into the marriage that the cracks began to surface. Eda had just found out that she was expecting, she was nervous, she had only just finished law school and gotten her first job, the timing was terrible, but a faulty condom was all it had taken. No, the timing wasn't terrible it was abysmal. Calling their marriage rocky was an understatement.
She loved her daughter more than anything, Kiraz was the sun and the stars and she was all that Eda lived for these days. That and fixing up this floating sinkhole it seemed. The boat had been her first wedding anniversary gift, 'Yıldız Kovalayan', 'Star Chaser', in honor of her last name. Eda looked at it with a mixture of dread and horror, she was seven months pregnant and he thought that a yacht was a good idea? Eda loved being on the water as much as the next person but owning a boat and spending an afternoon on one were two very different things. Instead of a quiet celebration of their anniversary they had a fight, not a tiny one but a big one and Berat left the house angry.
He returned two days later, having spent the night on the boat he said, but Eda had her suspicions. She had her doubts for months. The fights continued and escalated when Berat missed the birth of their daughter because he had decided to take a work trip. She tamped down the bitterness when she thought of him, Berat's work trip was named Dilara, the firm's lawyer. Lawyer her ass, the woman got her degree in correspondence school. Eda knew her type, always looking for something that wasn't theirs to have. Their marriage had deteriorated so badly once Eda realized that Berat was cheating that when he and his lover were killed in a crash of the corporate jet she was hard pressed to shed a tear. The company compensated her on the loss of her 'beloved' husband and they compensated three month old Kiraz on the loss of her 'hard-working and loving' father. What a joke. Eda took the money, with a tight smile and invested for her future and Kiraz's.
The idea that Eda Yildiz was now a widow brought out all the vermin from the neighborhood that they lived in, that she was a wealthy widow even more. She couldn't help her looks, if you asked Eda she would say she was average but to the casual observer they saw a stunning brunette who was more beautiful than any model and now she was rich too.
With the new funds Eda moved and bought a townhouse closer to the courthouse near Sultaniye Park. The place was large enough for her to move in her father's sister. They had their own space without bumping into each other. Ayfer had been a God send for Eda when Kiraz was born, she stepped in and took the role of mothering Eda, helping her through her post-partum period and then taking care of Kiraz when she was ready to return to work. A nurse by education and training Ayfer was loving and giving of her time but wasn't afraid to speak her mind or discipline Kiraz as she got older. Eda laughed internally at that, Kiraz wasn't the only one that got disciplined, sometimes she got it too.
Eda loved her job as a family law attorney, she was able to be the advocate for the children in difficult situations or for the parent that should have custody. Eda knew how important her job was when Berat's parents sued her for custody of Kiraz four months after his death. They didn't want Kiraz, they wanted the financial settlement that the company had made on her. Eda represented herself in court and managed to point out the greed of her former in-laws in the process.
Her sole custody of her own child was solidified and any visitation by his parents was stripped. The people forgot who they were taking to court. Eda had kept records of every visit ever made to Kiraz and the time that they spent with her. It was easy to keep a record of their visits when they had only seen her once. The fact that they had the nerve to take her to court for custody of her own child never failed to anger her to this day, even almost five years later.
Walking in the front door Eda called out, "I'm home? Where is everyone?"
"In the kitchen, Kiraz is finger painting. How was today?" called Ayfer.
Eda changed her shoes for her slippers and brought them upstairs with her, "It was good. There are always more cases coming in. The deputy director asked me to take on a few extra cases so I'm going to look them over after dinner," she came around the table to place a kiss on Kiraz's head, "What are you making sweetheart?"
Kiraz turned her sweet face up to her mother, "I'm painting a picture for the little girl I'm meeting tomorrow."
"Little girl you're meeting tomorrow?" she looked questioningly at her aunt.
Ayfer sighed, "I was meaning to talk to you after dinner but someone let the cat out of the bag," she gave Kiraz a playful poke, "An old friend called and asked if I could do him a favor. It seems that his employer's son has landed himself with three wards and he is a bachelor with no experience with children." She knew Eda wouldn't be satisfied with that explanation so she added, "We can talk more after dinner."
'After dinner' was their code for they would talk about things after Kiraz went to bed, "Well I'm going to go up and change. I'll help with dinner in a few minutes."
Ayfer watched her niece head upstairs to her bedroom. For someone so young she had taken on a mountain of responsibility. She knew that Eda was punishing herself and every young man that she met for her disastrous marriage. Ayfer had no idea of how to shake Eda out of her current mindset. Every man was looked at with mistrust and even disdain by her niece. It was true that some of the men warranted it but others did not.
She thought back to the conversation that she had with Seyfi Cicek earlier in the day. Serkan Bolat was handed three children who had been through their own trauma. The siblings were his half-sisters and brother that he had only met that morning. The children were the result of his father's affair while married to Serkan Bolat's mother. Apparently the young man had no knowledge of the children and had no relationship with the late father. Ayfer wondered what possessed the father to make the children wards of his son.
Seyfi didn't sugarcoat Serkan Bolat either, he said that the young man had a very wild spell recently, a reaction to the grief over the loss of his brother. He said that Serkan Bolat had become something that he never had been before, a wastrel and a playboy. He had forsaken the business that he and his partners built from the ground up but he was trying to recover and had recently returned to work. He was trying to find himself again without his best friend and brother and now he had this responsibility. Ayfer felt for the young man, she was no stranger to grief and the stupid things that it made one do.
They both made every effort to not talk about serious topics in front of Kiraz, the little girl was so smart, very like Eda was at that age. Kiraz had picked up that her aunt would be watching three children, the little girl missed nothing. Ayfer would meet Serkan Bolat early tomorrow morning and take the children under her wing. She had a feeling that these children needed a lot of tender loving care as well as a firm hand. Seyfi had given her the bare bones one what the children had most likely been through, it seemed like their father was a serial cheater, the children probably already knew this. He also told her that the youngest child didn't talk, probably the result of trauma. She had her work cut out for her.
After a happy family dinner Eda took Kiraz up to bathe her before bed time, she read from her favorite book, just a few pages though because her daughter was sleepy and couldn't stay awake. Eda headed back downstairs to help Ayfer with the remaining dishes and to talk.
"So tell me more about this family that you will be working for and why now?"
Ayfer leaned against the sink, "With Kiraz starting school in the fall I'll have more time on my hands. It isn't that I don't love being here, I do but I know that I have more that I can give. You have your advocacy work and this will be my chance to help a family in crisis." Ayfer was careful, she wanted to avoid getting dragged back into the past and her work as a nurse in the emergency room. One disastrous case had shaken her belief in the institution that she had devoted so much time, effort and passion to.
Eda went to hug her aunt, "You know that what happened to that family wasn't your fault Ayfer. Everything that you did was the best possible thing, no one could have foreseen what came next." Everyone was complaining about the father abusing the children but it was the mother all along. "I can only imagine that poor man's horror coming home to find his wife and children dead. The people that failed him were the social workers who never followed up with the home care, not you Ayfer. They were supposed to investigate when the children were injured instead of automatically believing that their father was the abuser."
The case haunted Ayfer, it was the impetus behind her leaving the nursing profession. Two children were brought in together and separately by their father on several occasions, with injuries that he claimed to have no knowledge of how they happened. He was afraid to tell them that he suspected his wife was behind the injuries but he finally did. When the social worker interviewed the mother over the phone as opposed to a site visit, she denied what the father had told them. A week later she killed the two children and committed suicide. The father, in his grief, followed his children into death. Ayfer had been shattered, she had believed the father and argued on his behalf with the social worker to no avail.
Protecting innocent lives and advocating for them had been her mission for years. Ayfer knew in her heart that she didn't fail the father but the system had and nothing she did could make them change their protocol. As a result four people were dead and she could no longer stomach working in that broken system. Eda welcomed Ayfer into her home, she was the blessing that she needed after the birth of Kiraz and the death of Berat. Ayfer became Eda and Kiraz's advocate and care giver when she needed it the most.
Ayfer knew that the mother and daughter were happy and didn't need her but Eda didn't want her to be alone. When Seyfi called today it was the sign that she needed. The children that Serkan Bolat inherited would be her new mission.
"Who is this family that you are taking on?" Eda went back to her original question.
"You know my old friend Seyfi?" Eda was familiar with the name, "He called and asked for my help with his employers son. . . . ."
"Yes, yes, you mentioned that. Who is the man who has the children now? What's his story? Why can't he care for them?" Ayfer knew that once Eda started researching Serkan Bolat she would throw up all sorts of red flags before she even met the man. Seyfi swore that he was a good man who had been blinded by grief and been running but that he was back on track now.
Knowing that the lawyer in Eda wouldn't give up Ayfer relented and told her who her future employer would be, "His name is Serkan Bolat, the children are is half sisters and brother. Apparently they are the second family that he never knew that his father had."
"His father had a second family? While he was married to this Serkan Bolat's mother?"
"Yes. His father, Aptekin, and Serkan's mother divorced ten years ago, the children are fifteen, twelve and five," Eda poured them both tea while Ayfer told her about the family, "The mother died a year ago in a fall and the father just passed away from a heart attack."
Eda snorted, "Whose bed was he in? A cheater like that never changes."
Ayfer rolled her eyes, "Eda, so cynical. I have no idea, I didn't ask Seyfi. I didn't know the man and it really doesn't matter since he's dead. My concern is for the children. I'll be working for the man but really my goal is that the children have a stable and loving environment to rely on."
"And you said that this man isn't married?"
"No. He actually doesn't live far from here and since he has a five year old I thought that Kiraz could come along with me to help befriend the five year old. You know what a tender age that is. . . . . Seyfi should be meeting with the children now. He promised to give me a rundown of his thoughts this evening."
"Will you stay there or here?"
"I told him that I wouldn't live there, maybe occasionally I would watch the children in the evening if he had a business dinner. I also am going to be doing housekeeping while I'm there. I don't plan on doing everything by myself, the children are old enough to do chores and help."
Eda looked at her aunt, "Basically you're a paid stay at home mother, taking care of the house and children. I hope that you're being paid well, stay at home mothers should be rewarded for all that they do," she pushed back from her chair, "I'm going to put in a few hours on the new cases that I was assigned today. Let me know what this Seyfi has to say."
She gave Ayfer a hug before heading to her office, Eda had claimed one of the bedrooms as an at home office space and frequently worked into the early morning hours. She was close to Kiraz's room in case her daughter needed her in the night. Serkan Bolat, Eda stored the name knowing that she would research him regardless of what Seyfi had said. Why would a father entrust children to a man that had never met them before? Why would a man think that having two families at the same time was acceptable?
There was no excuse for the father. As far as Eda was concerned there was never an excuse for cheating. If you didn't want to be married or wanted out of the relationship then you left it, you broke up or got divorced. It usually boiled down to money, the man or woman was afraid of what they would lose in a divorce, whether his money or hers. Eda thought back to her own marriage and Berat. He was well paid as a financial adviser for a large bank but Eda often thought with his spendthrift ways he didn't take his own advice.
When they were married they established a joint account but also maintained separate accounts. Not that Eda didn't trust Berat when they were first married, she did, the separate accounts were his idea. It wasn't until she found out that he was cheating that Eda understood why the two accounts. All of his affair expenses he paid for out of his personal account. Then there was the boat, that he took money out of their savings to purchase, all without consulting her.
It did her no good to rehash the past, she was doing the very thing that she often counseled Ayfer not to do. Eda needed to look forward to her future and Kiraz's. Pushing those thoughts to the side Eda began to dig into her cases. She wrote the name 'Serkan Bolat' on a sticky note so that she wouldn't forget to research him but work took precedence.