The drive home from their mini honeymoon is made mostly in silence. Both realize their brief time in paradise is almost over. Time to get back to the real world where things won't be so easy for them just yet. Emir especially is quiet. Contemplating. His silence makes Reyhan curious.
"What's going on inside your head," Reyhan wonders aloud.
"I've been thinking about how this all can play out," he admits. "My mother. Cemre. What can we do about them aside from exposing their terrible deeds? We don't really have any proof of anything. And to make matters worse, even if we call Cemre's bluff about that so called video of me killing that guy, what if she calls our bluff right back? What if she gives that video to the police? It'll be my word against a video. I'll probably go to jail anyway."
"We need that video," Reyhan realizes.
"And we need time," Emir adds. "It may take only a few days to compile all the evidence Amca has from the nanny cam as well as the testimonies of the men Cemre paid to kidnap you. Or it could take weeks. And we'll need time to prove Cemre's video is a fake once we find it."
"We can't let her know we've reconciled until we get that proof," Reyhan says sadly, turning to look at him. "I don't want to be without you for that long. I just got you back. I don't think I can pretend I don't love you."
He takes her hand and brings it to his lips for a kiss.
"That's not going to happen," he promises. "Because I've come up with a solution to that particular problem. What do you say we give Cemre and my mother a taste of their own medicine? What do you say we teach those Tuzak Queens a thing or two about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a game?"
Reyhan looks suspiciously at him. But she can't deny that she's intrigued.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" she asks. "What kind of game?"
He just smiles and turns to look back at the road. This, he thinks to himself, is going to be fun.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cemre stares into the mirror, putting some finishing touches on her make up. Emir should be home any minute and she wants to be ready for him. His estimated arrival time is a little earlier than she had hoped, her idea of meeting him in bed one that she'll have to put off for another day. But she can at least use this opportunity to make him start to see her as his future wife. She'll make sure of it. And if he continues to resist? She'll just have to get creative and make it so he has to marry her. Her biggest obstacle is gone. Now that Reyhan is out of the picture, Emir is hers for the taking.
"Emir? Reyhan?" she hears from the front of the house. It sucks all the breath from her lungs.
Reyhan? She must be hearing things. Cemre runs down the hallway to see a crowd gathering at the front door. That crowd clears and Cemre almost passes out when she sees Reyhan standing there next to Emir.
"Okay, let's give her some space," Emir says, his arm protectively around Reyhan.
It burns Cemre on the inside to see him touching her. Why is he touching her like this?
"What is she doing here?" Cemre finally asks, unable to hold it in any longer.
"Why is she asking that?" Reyhan asks, turning her curious gaze to Emir. "Why wouldn't I be here?"
"Don't worry about that now, Hayatım," he says to her before looking up at the others. "She needs to rest. I'm going to get her settled and then come back and explain everything to everyone."
Hayatım? Did he just call her Hayatım? Cemre is about to ask more questions, but she's stunned to silence again when Emir reaches down and swoops Reyhan up into his arms. Then he carries her down the hall, not to Reyhan's room, but to his own. Melike follows right behind them.
"What is going on?" Cemre asks Cavidan through clenched teeth. "Why is he with her? Where did he even find her?"
"I should be asking you that question!" Cavidan snaps, pulling Cemre away from the group so everyone else doesn't hear what they're talking about. "I thought you said you had taken care of her. How did she get away from your men?"
"I don't know," Cemre shrugs. "But I'm going to find out."
She pulls out her phone to make a call.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Did you see Cemre's face when you called me Hayatım ?" Reyhan asks with a giggle once they get into the bedroom. "I thought she was about to blow steam out of her ears."
Emir laughs with her.
"Emir, Oğlum. Is Reyhan okay?" Melike stares curiously at them. "She seems ... to be not quite herself."
Emir and Reyhan give each other another amused look before he sets her down on her own feet. He throws an arm over her shoulder and presses a quick kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm fine," Reyhan says, a blush darkening her cheeks at him kissing her in front of Melike.
"But better yet, we're fine," he adds, a huge smile on his face. He runs his hand up and down her arm and gives her a loving gaze. She melts, and with a gentle sigh, rests her head on his shoulder.
"You two are back together?" Melike excitedly asks, causing Emir to playfully shush her.
He looks to make sure the door is closed so they have privacy. Then he lifts both his and Reyhan's hands to show her their rings. Melike has to cover her mouth to hold in her glee filled scream.
"But no one can know. Only you," he makes Melike swear. "Things are kind of complicated."
"I don't understand," Melike says, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.
"Emir!"
It's Cavidan, calling as she comes down the hall towards the room.
"We're out of time," Emir whispers. "Reyhan will explain everything to you. I have to go talk to everyone else."
He gives Reyhan one more quick kiss before leaving them.
Reyhan blushes again when she notices Melike's gaze on her.
"Don't get me wrong," Melkike starts. "I'm very happy for the two of you. But I'm also very confused. What's going on?"
"Like Emir said ... things are complicated. We're trying to fix everything that has gotten so mixed up and messed up recently. But in order to buy some time, we have to pretend that I'm like this."
"Like what?" Melike asks.
Reyhan just smiles.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Did you say amnesia?" Cavidan asks in disbelief. "You're expecting us to believe that Reyhan has amnesia?"
"They called me from the hospital," Emir explained. "A small, rural place about two hours from here. She doesn't know how she ended up there. But she knew enough to give the doctors my number for them to call me. She thinks it's two months ago, before we were divorced. The last thing she remembers is when those men kidnapped her from the hospital."
"This can't be for real," Cemre says, refusing to believe Emir. "Let me talk to her. I'll prove she's faking this."
"Faking? You think it's easy to fake amnesia?" Emir asks.
"It's easier than you think," Cemre spits back, before realizing what she's saying. "I mean, I can imagine it wouldn't be that hard."
"Well, all I ask is that you show her the same sympathy and support I showed you when you had amnesia, Cemre," Emir reminds her.
He wants to laugh at the look on her face. Reyhan had explained to him how Cemre faked her own amnesia and he was actually shocked the woman had gone to such lengths. This plan to have Reyhan pretend to have amnesia now is perfectly poetic in a way. When he said he wanted his mother and Cemre to get a taste of their own medicine, he didn't realize they'd be actually using some of their own tricks against them.
"Do you really think this will work?" Reyhan had asked him when he first told her the idea. "Will they believe I actually have amnesia?"
Emir had thought long and hard about it. Lying is not Reyhan's strong suit.
"It's not so important that they believe you have amnesia," he had said. "They just need to believe I believe you have amnesia.
"They'll believe you believe," Reyhan had said. "You believed when Cemre pretended she had amnesia. They can't really say anything about me without giving Cemre away."
Looks like Reyhan turned out to be right.
"Why are you going through this charade, pretending to still be married to her?" Cavidan asks him.
"I have to. The doctors say she should remember things on her own," Emir explains. "If she finds out that we got divorced, it might harm her. And just like when Cemre had amnesia, the doctors recommend Reyhan and I spend a lot of time together to see what she can remember."
Cemre is seething and Emir is really having a hard time hiding his amusement at this turn of events. He only wishes Reyhan were out here to enjoy the show. She deserves the satisfaction of seeing Cavidan and Cemre get a small taste of their own medicine. Especially after all they both put her through.
"But Son ... none of this is true. Reyhan left you. She divorced you. Don't you think when she remembers that, she'll be upset with you for letting her believe otherwise? No, I think she needs to face reality sooner rather than later. Why don't we tell her that Cemre is now your wife? That way Reyhan will know you're not available and to not get attached."
"You think flat out lying to her will be better than withholding the whole truth?" Emir asks, shocked at her suggestion. "And why would I be married to Cemre? That makes no sense."
He just laughs, then leans over to give his mother a perfunctory kiss on the cheek before leaving, calling a "good night" over his shoulder at them.
"I'm going crazy," Cemre says after Emir is gone. "How is this girl back here? Why can't we get rid of her?"
"Calm down," Cavidan warns her. "We just need to take a minute and ...."
"No, Cavidan teyze! I'm tired of waiting!" Cemre rants. "I'm tired of having to see this girl live the life I'm supposed to be living. Being loved by the man who's supposed to be loving me. Why can't you understand that? Why can't anyone understand what I'm going through?"
"Cemre ..."
"I'm done! This game is over. I'm not playing anymore. I warned you, Cavidan teyze," Cemre reminds her. "Either I get what I want, or everyone is going to burn."
Cemre storms off, leaving Cavidan alone. And scared. For the first time, she's actually terrified at what Cemre will do. She doesn't care what happens to Reyhan or even Hikmet. But Cemre sounds like she might actually be willing to hurt Emir this time. And worse, Cavidan feels like her own life is in jeopardy. It's time that Cemre is stopped.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emir takes a minute to just watch Reyhan. She seems so happy and at peace. He realizes now the struggles she must have gone through because they are completely absent from her aura. And he wants to strangle Cemre for making her make such a choice. She gave everything up for him. Her heart ... her happiness... her peace. Would he have done the same for her? Could he have been that selfless?
He realizes that he couldn't have. He is too selfish and she is too vital to him. If the situation were reversed, and she killed someone for him, he would protect her at all costs. Even if it meant leaving everything and everyone behind and taking her someplace safe. As long as he had her in his life, he could keep on living. But he could never push her away. Even if it would save her.
He grabs a throw for her and walks out to where she's sitting on the veranda.
"You'll freeze," he says, wrapping the throw around her.
She gives him a smile in thanks and moves over so that he can sit next to her.
"This view seems different to me for some reason," she says, looking up at the night sky. "Almost as if the stars and moon are bigger somehow. Brighter."
"Everything is always bigger and brighter with you around. My world without you was just ... dark," he admits after a slight pause. "The darkness weighed me down. I felt like I couldn't breathe without you."
"I thought I was going to die," she whispers somberly. "My whole body ached from not feeling your touch. The very thing I used to drive you away was the very thing I realized was so necessary to me."
Emir smiles when he notices how she has nearly curled herself around him. She was never one to initiate their contact before. But since their reconciliation, she finds any reason to be near him. Not that he's complaining. He throws his arm around her shoulder and pulls her even closer.
"I missed this. I missed you," he says. He holds her tighter when he feels her quaking beneath him. It takes him a minute to realize she isn't shivering from the cold. She's crying.
"I hurt you so much."
The pain in her voice breaks his heart. Her gut wrenching sobs bring tears to his own eyes. He tries to comfort her, but he doesn't know what to say because it's true. She did hurt him. She tore his heart out and stomped it to pieces. But he hurt her too.
"I said so many things to you out of my anger at you leaving me just when I thought things couldn't have been better between us. I just couldn't understand how you could leave. Don't ever do that again. Please," he begs her, his own voice cracking. "No matter what the circumstance, don't leave me. No matter what the problem, tell me. And together we'll figure out how to fight it. Promise me."
"I promise."
"No, swear it. Swear to it on everything holy to you that you will never leave me like that again."
She hugs him, breathing him into her soul. She's instantly calmer. She always takes from him. But she knows now what he needs from her.
"I swear," she whispers in his ear.
She sits back and cups his face in her hands. Pulling him towards her, she kisses him ... no doubts in her mind, no hesitation. No thoughts of where they are or who might see them. Because this is what she can give him. This is what he needs - her everything. She kisses him until her lungs begin to burn and her head begins to swim. She kisses him until she feels the throw fall from her shoulders and him lifting her from her seat, pulling her onto his lap.
"Emir," she pants, desperately trying to catch her breath when they get a small break. But this time he kisses her and she falls into the vortex once again. She feels him, eager and insistent beneath her, her own body echoing the feeling. She needs him. Now.
He touches her. In places that leave her skin burning on the outside and everything else throbbing on the inside.
"Emir," she whimpers again, begging for something she doesn't know how to put into words. But he thankfully understands her and sweeps her up into his arms, practically running back into the house. He lays her on the bed and covers her body with his own. And she finally feels like she's back where she belongs.