The next morning, Reyhan wakes up trying to catch her breath. Heart pounding, she rubs her eyes to try to wipe away the images she just saw in her dreams, but can't make sense of them. It felt like a dark presence was hovering over her. She feels like she barely escaped death.
"Nightmare," she says, trying to calm her racing heart. "Just a nightmare."
She looks over and sees that Emir isn't in the bed with her and her panic returns.
"Emir?" she calls, looking around the room for him. She doesn't see him. She scrambles out of bed and searches for him. "Emir!"
She lets out a scream when the door suddenly opens. But when she notices that it's Emir, she jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly. Only then does she start to calm down.
"Hey. What's going on? Are you okay?" he asks, holding her even tighter. "You're shaking. What happened?"
She takes a few moments to enjoy the feeling of his arms around her as her heartbeat begins to settle down again.
"I'm okay," she says when she's calmer. "Just had a dream. But it's fine. You're fine."
"I'm fine. We're both fine," he assures her.
His phone starts ringing and he glances at where it's sitting on the table, but ends up just ignoring it to keep holding her. But she figures he should probably get it.
"I'm okay now," she says, pulling away from him. "You can answer that."
It's then she notices he's fully dressed for work and her brows wrinkle in confusion.
"I need to go to the office," he explains when he sees her looking at him. "Just for a couple of hours. There's a big meeting that can no longer get delayed."
Her heart starts to race again in fear. She tries to hide it from him, but he notices anyway.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm fine. Just being silly," she shrugs, trying to laugh it off. "I'm going to miss you, that's all. This will be the first time being apart since we got back together."
He smiles and kisses her.
"You're making me want to stay home," he laughs.
But then his phone rings again and she realizes she has to let him go. They can't stay locked up in their bedroom for the rest of their lives.
"Go," she insists. "Go ahead and do what you have to do. And then hurry back to me."
She wants to walk him out, but she isn't dressed yet. So they say goodbye right there in the room. With one last kiss, he leaves her. She places her hand on her chest to try to physically calm her heart, but she can't help it. She'll be afraid until he returns. She still can't remember her dream, but she feels it was a warning of some kind.
"There's nothing to worry about," she tells herself. "Cemre is in prison. She can't hurt us anymore."
But for some reason, she can't make herself believe. Something bad is coming. She can feel it. And until Emir is back safe with her, she won't feel calm.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cavidan is startled awake and is shocked to see Cemre sitting next to her bed staring at her. She has to blink a few times to be sure the vision is real and not just some delusion. Maybe she thought about the girl so much the night before that she's seeing things now. She reaches her hand out and pokes at Cemre to be sure she's real.
"You're actually here. How?" Cavidan asks. "You were on the way to prison."
"I had some unfinished business," is all Cemre says. She gets up and stands in a hidden corner just moments before Melike enters with Cavidan's morning medicine. After Melike leaves again, Cemre comes out of hiding.
"You escaped," Cavidan guesses. "And you're here to hide."
"I'm here because it's like I said ... I have unfinished business," Cemre repeats.
"Reyhan," Cavidan nods. "She's back. She tricked us both. We can't let her get away with that."
"So you're with me?" Cemre asks, a surprised look on her face.
"I want that girl gone," Cavidan readily agrees. "I'll do whatever you say. Just get rid of her."
Cavidan is a little uneasy at the crazed look in Cemre's eyes. But she'll worry about that later. Once Cemre leaves with Reyhan, Cavidan will make sure Emir hires extra security to keep them safe. Cavidan's only desire is to get rid of Reyhan, for good this time. So for now she'll go along with whatever twisted plan that's forming in Cemre's head. Then she'll never need to see Cemre again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cemre smiles to herself. She'll let Cavidan believe Reyhan is her only piece of unfinished business. But it's not just Reyhan. No, she's here to get rid of anyone standing in her way of getting to Emir. That includes Cavidan. The woman just doesn't know it yet.
She could have taken care of Reyhan earlier. She had the sleeping woman's neck right under her hands. She was tempted to squeeze the life out of her, right then and there. But she has other plans for the woman first. Plans that include Cavidan. She'll kill two birds with one stone. And then nothing will be in her way to getting Emir. Love is about sacrifice. She sacrificed her mother. Emir will have to sacrifice his. But afterwards, nothing will keep them apart.
"Cavidan teyze," Cemre says sweetly. "Why don't you get up, get dressed, and get ready. Then we'll go see Hikmet amca. Reyhan will be there to see him sooner or later. And that's where we'll take care of her once and for all."
"You already have a plan in mind," Cavidan figures. "What is it?"
"You'll have to trust me," Cemre smiles. "When I'm done with Reyhan this time, Emir won't want anything to do with her. Her life won't be worth anything and she won't have anything left to come back for, even if she could. I'm going to blow her life apart and burn all the pieces. And she will have to live knowing I finally took back all that she's stolen from me. Believe me, when I'm done with Reyhan, you won't ever have to worry about seeing her again."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A weird glitch with his phone. That is what he'll remember it all boiling down to. His phone was acting up and he had to let it go through a lengthy reboot process. By the time he got to the office, it had only just finished. He was shocked to see that he had nearly a hundred missed calls and messages. But he never got the chance to read them. Because he got to hear it all first hand.
"We have a problem."
Kemal had grabbed him as soon as he walked through the door. He should have known something was wrong by the look on his face. He should have suspected when Kemal led him straight into his office, sitting him down at the desk.
"There was an accident, single car."
Zafer had been there, his hand gentle yet restraining on Emir's shoulder. As well as a couple of the bigger security guards to block the door. In hindsight, Emir appreciated the preparation on his uncle's part. Because it was entirely necessary. Emir had gone crazy.
"Suheyla hanim was taken to the hospital. She's alive, but in a coma."
Emir hadn't understood. Not at first. Not until Zafer explained to him that Suheyla convinced the judge to allow Cemre to go for therapy. That Cemre was in the car with her mother at the time of the accident. But that she's apparently not there now.
"Cemre wasn't with her mother. The police don't know where she is."
The police may not have known where she was, but Emir knew. Because she was right there on the screen of the tablet Kemal had given to him. The tablet with the live stream from the nanny cam in his father's room. No, Cemre wasn't missing. She was at his home. And that's when Emir had gone mad.
"What's happening? Reyhan? I have to get to Reyhan!"
Emir had kicked, fought, and screamed to get home. But Kemal, Zafer, and the guards wouldn't let him leave. Not in his crazed condition. The police were already on the way to the mansion to handle the situation. Kemal expected him to just sit and watch it all play out on the screen. Emir wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
"I have to get home."
Emir had begged. Pleaded. And finally convinced his uncle to take him home. To take him to Reyhan.
So now, they speed as fast as they can through the traffic.
"I'm coming, Baby."
He just prays he isn't too late.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Reyhan stands by the window looking out to the front of the house and wonders curiously where Melike is headed.
Probably just a quick trip to the store, she imagines. Except it's a bit strange since Sefer had taken Nigar to do the shopping not an hour before.
Maybe she's just running out to quickly get something she forgot to add to the shopping list, Reyhan tells herself. But she doesn't quite believe that theory. Something feels off. Something has felt off since she woke up that morning.
"I'm just missing Emir," she sighs quietly, dropping her head against the window.
Missing her husband is the real reason why she's standing by the window. She's waiting on him to come home. She knows that once she sees him with her own eyes, once she's in his arms again, she'll feel more at ease.
Stop being silly, Reyhan. He'll be home when he's home. She would laugh at herself for being so needy if she wasn't feeling his absence so viscerally. The divorce really affected her more than she thought. She has an Emir sized hole in her heart whenever he isn't around.
"Come home soon," she whispers out the window before deciding to go see her uncle to pass the time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"She's coming!" Cavidan says quietly when she spies Reyhan walking towards Hikmet's room. "Get where she can't see you."
Cemre just nods and steps behind the door where Reyhan won't see her when she first walks in. They just need her inside the room. Then Cemre will handle everything from there.
"Is everyone out of the house?" she asks Cavidan to make sure they're alone.
Cavidan nods.
"That brat is at school. And I sent Sefer and Nigar grocery shopping," she whispers. Reyhan is getting closer and she doesn't want her to hear her. "Then I sent Yasin and Melike to a different store to get something else entirely. Everyone is gone."
"Perfect." Cemre's cold smile sends a shiver up Cavidan's spine. But she just ignores it. She'll do anything to get rid of Reyhan. Even team up with this maniac.
Reyhan walks inside the room and is startled to see Cavidan there.
"Oh," she says with surprise since Cavidan hardly ever visits. "I didn't know you were in here with my uncle. I just wanted to check on him. But I can come back later."
"No. Come in, Canım," Cavidan says with a smile that sort of scares Reyhan. But that's the last thing she notices before she's hit from behind and she falls into the darkness of unconsciousness.