"Sarp, you'll kill him, stop!" I said several times, but Sarp, in his rage, couldn't hear me. "Stop, that's enough!" Koray shouted. "Ceyda doesn't love you, understand? She loves me!" he said. Sarp suddenly stopped, lifted his head, and turned to me. With great shock, I shook my head and looked at Sarp. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that I didn't love him. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked very angry. "Sarp..." "Ceyda, go inside," he suddenly shouted, not letting me speak. I jumped in fear. He turned back to Koray and threw another powerful punch. He grabbed Koray by the collar and started dragging him towards the kitchen door. I took a few steps after them. "Sarp, you'll kill him! Let him go now!" I said. Just as he was about to go out the door, he turned back to me with a frown. "Didn't I tell you to go inside?" he shouted. My feet, which were following him, stopped. I started crying violently. He dragged Koray out into the garden. "Ceyda, what happened here?" Firuze abla had come to my side, but my eyes were so blurred with tears I couldn't see her. "Ceyda, what's wrong? What's happening?" said Elif.
Hearing my friend's voice, my crying intensified. Yasemin and Aslı had also come. I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. "Calm down, sweetie, come sit here," they said, sitting me down on a chair in the kitchen. Seeing my dear friends should have calmed me down, but I cried even more. Elif knelt in front of me and held my hands. "My dear Ceyda, can you calm down a bit and tell us what happened?" When Sarp's shouting came from outside, Yasemin moved towards the kitchen door. "Sarp has gone crazy; he's beating someone to death," she said, and my crying intensified even more. "Ceyda, please calm down and tell us, what's happening? Who is Sarp beating?" said Elif. Between sobs, I managed with difficulty, "Koray," I said. "Who, Koray? The doctor?" said Aslı. "Uh-huh," I said, nodding. "He tried to take me away by force." "Why?" asked Firuze abla in surprise. "I went to the restroom. When I came out, he grabbed me from behind. He said, 'This wedding can't happen; I won't leave you with Sarp. You're coming with me,' and tried to force me to go with him."
"What? That vile man!" said Aslı. "So he had his eye on you." "No way!..." We all turned towards Yasemin, who was shouting while looking into the garden from the kitchen door. "Sarp killed the man!" She sounded scared. The girls ran to Yasemin, while I was frozen in place. I didn't want to believe it. "He's coming," said Firuze abla. My heart was tightening; I was scared. "I can't believe it! The men literally dragged the doctor's lifeless body away." As we looked at each other in fear and worry, Sarp stormed inside. He paused and let his gaze wander over the girls. "Could you leave us alone for a bit?" he said. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was out of breath. As the girls left, they glanced at me. They were worried about me. I turned my gaze to Sarp and looked at his face. His dark brown hair was falling over his forehead, his coffee-colored eyes had darkened. He took a step or two towards me and stopped. "Ceyda, I'm listening," he said. My tongue was tied; I couldn't speak. I just stared at him with wide eyes, unmoving. When he shouted "Ceyda!" I jumped in fear. "What was this nonsense I just saw? Answer me!" "Don't shout at me," I said. I couldn't help but cry again. "Okay, I'm not shouting." He put his hands at his sides and took a deep breath to calm his voice. "Now tell me, how long has that vile man been bothering you?"
"And why didn't I know about this?" "I don't know him; I only saw him a few times. He's been coming to the house for my mother's treatment since she arrived. The day we bought the wedding dress, he told me, 'I know you don't love Sarp; I won't leave you.' And tonight he tried to take me by force," I said, tears still streaming from my eyes. "Sarp, you didn't believe him, did you? That I love him..." "Quiet, Ceyda," he said, coming towards me. He had believed it. He had believed that scum. What was going to happen now? What would I do? He came and knelt, sitting in front of me. He looked into my eyes. "Don't finish that sentence. The possibility of you loving someone else cannot exist. I can't even bear to hear it." I looked in surprise into the eyes I loved. "So you didn't believe that scum?" I said. "I didn't believe him," he said. His gaze had softened. "Then why did you shout at me?" I said. My crying had stopped, but I was still hiccupping and sighing. "Why did you frown as if you believed him?" I gave his shoulder two not-too-hard punches. "Are you aware of how much you scared me?" His anger had subsided. His face was smiling.
"I'm sorry, my beautiful wife. When I saw that scene, I lost my mind. I couldn't bear him touching you. I become like this when I get angry," he said, moving closer. "What can I do for you to forgive me?" he said. He was very close to me, smiling sweetly. As if he hadn't just killed a man. Suddenly, my eyes widened as a thought came to me. Was he really dead? Sarp looked into my eyes and said, "What?" "Sarp, did you really kill him?" I said. He looked at my face expressionlessly for a few seconds. "I wanted to kill him for touching you, but unfortunately, he's alive. Your father's guards forcibly took him from me." For a moment, he seemed to get angry again but then composed himself. "Never mind that now. What should I do for you to forgive me, my beauty? What do you want from me?" His voice was very calm and soothing. "Well, there is one thing, actually," I said. I knew he wouldn't do this for me, but I tried my luck anyway. "In my neighborhood, when a girl gets married, the groom washes the henna from her hand after visiting seven mosques," I said. Sarp was listening carefully. He was also a bit surprised. "Seven mosques?" he said, questioningly. I nodded in agreement. "But one mosque is enough for me," I said. Getting over his surprise, he smiled, first wiping my tears. He took me in his arms and pressed his lips to mine. I let myself go in his arms, which gave me peace. ******
I had told Sarp one mosque would be enough for me, but he took me to seven mosques. Normally, the mosques are visited on foot, but Sarp said that wasn't possible and we visited them by car. We were a bit of a crowd. By "a bit," I mean we were quite a crowd. We had practically formed a convoy with the cars. Half the crowd consisted of guards. I wanted to wash my hands at the last mosque we would visit, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque. When we arrived at the mosque, we got out of the cars. Sarp came to me, and we made eye contact as he took my hand. We were both smiling like children. It was clear from his demeanor that Sarp was as happy as I was. As we were about to walk towards the mosque, we heard Erdem call "Brother!" from behind us. We turned and looked at Erdem. "Brother, how many more mosques are we going to visit? In my twenty-eight years of life, I've never visited this many mosques. It's almost morning; the sun will be up soon. When are we going home to rest?" As Erdem spoke, it was clear from his face that he was really tired. "What, son, did it get too much for you? Maybe this way you'll find some faith," Sarp laughed. Along with him, the others and I laughed too. Then Cem said, "At this rate, sister-in-law will make us all find faith," and started laughing. Everyone's faces were smiling. Sarp and I sat in front of the fountain at the mosque. As Sarp untied the henna gloves on my hands, I watched him, smiling. He took off the gloves and first took my right hand under the running water, washing it carefully, as if performing an important task, until the henna was gone. Smiling, he looked into my eyes and started washing my left hand. I had never seen Sarp smile so much. My friends, Sibel, and the girls she introduced as her cousins were photographing Sarp and me in every possible way. Finally, when our mosque tour ended, we returned to our homes. Touring mosque to mosque in a convoy might have been a bit silly, but our night had been wonderful. Even though we didn't walk singing songs like in my neighborhood, we had stopped in a park at one point and danced to music blasting from the car, having fun.
When we got home, my friends would be staying with us, except for Firuze abla. Of course, Sibel too. Before Sarp left, he hugged me tightly. He breathed in my scent and whispered in my ear... "Our last night apart. From now on, I will never sleep without you, just so you know. I will wait impatiently for tomorrow, the day you come to me," he said, kissing my hair and leaving. I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths, placing my hand on my chest. I was so happy. I remembered my first entry into Sarp's house. I never would have thought I could be this happy with him. The giggles behind me brought me back to myself. When I turned to the girls, they were looking at me and laughing mockingly. I couldn't help but smile. "Quiet, girls, you'll wake everyone up," I said, pointing upstairs. When we went upstairs, I showed them their rooms, but they insisted on staying in my room. No matter how much I said we didn't have space, they didn't listen and settled into my room. Finally, we found a solution by making a large mattress on the floor with quilts and pillows we gathered from other rooms. I was very tired. Yasemin was on my right, Sibel on my left, next to Sibel was Elif, and finally Aslı, all lined up on the mattress. "How did you and my brother meet, Ceyda? Can you tell me?" Sibel's question made me open my sleepy eyes. "Can I tell you later, my dear?" I was really drowsy. I wanted to sleep. They would probably wake us up in a few hours. "But I'm very curious. How did you make a blockhead like my brother fall in love with you?" Smiling, I began to tell it like a fairy tale. "I got lost in the forest, and I was very curious about the beautiful house I saw ahead. When I entered the garden to ask for help, a group of armed men greeted me. When they called their boss and said, 'We have an uninvited guest,' the boss gave the order to bring me in. Unaware of what would happen to me, I was filled with intense fear. But the bad boss's bad men dragged me to the house and threw me in front of the bad boss like a sack of potatoes."
Sibel giggled and said, "My beautiful sister-in-law, your fairy tale is very nice, but I want to hear your real story." Aslı, grumbling in her sleepy voice, said, "What kind of meeting do you expect from that blockhead brother of yours?" Sibel said in a surprised voice, "Are you serious?" as if questioning. "Will you continue, my dear sister-in-law? I'm very curious," she said. Smiling, I continued. "When I fell, my whole body ached. When I lifted my head, I saw the man watching me with his evil gaze. With the adrenaline from fear, I tried to run away. But he caught me and imprisoned me in his house. The man who fell in love with me kept me captive for days. Finally, he forcibly married me and made me his wife." Sibel sat up in bed, her eyes wide with horror, and fixed them on me. "The day my brother brought you to us, you said, 'Help me!' You said, 'He kidnapped me by force.' I didn't believe you then," she said. Her surprised face looked very funny to my sleepy eyes. "Let me sleep, my dear Sibel. You know, I don't want to oversleep and anger the bad man tomorrow," I said. ************ I could hear someone calling my name. I wanted to wake up, but my eyes just wouldn't open. There was also a pressure on me, pinning me down. The person calling my name was still muttering something.
"Look at their state, Hatice. Was there no other room? They're sleeping on top of each other on the floor. The kids will get sick." "But they look so cute, don't they?" I forced my eyes open and looked around. "Grandma," I said. "Oh, Grandma, we've been standing over your heads for an hour, calling you. What time is it? Am I getting married today?" I said, and suddenly the image of my grandmother in wedding dresses came to my mind. I started smiling. When I looked down, I saw that the pressure pinning me down was Yasemin and Sibel. They were both lying on top of me. "Get off me, ladies!" I shouted. "What's happening?" they said, trying to wake up. "What's happening, Yasemin? One became two. If possible, don't sleep with me again." I tried to get up from the floor by pushing them off. Yasemin laughed and said, "Even if you wanted to, you can't sleep with us anymore, sweetie. Did you think Sarp would sleep without you?" and I threw the pillow in my hand at Yasemin. Yasemin took the pillow that hit her and threw it at Sibel. Before I knew what was happening, the others got up too. Pillows were flying through the air. When my grandmother shouted, we stopped and looked at each other. Our hair and clothes were all disheveled. My grandmother was laughing. "Girls, we have a lot of work today. You know, our wedding is tonight. Get ready quickly and come down for breakfast. Don't be late," she said, leaving the room, followed by Hatice abla. We continued
laughing and having a pillow fight for a while longer. It was as if all the energy inside us had been activated. After a while, we stopped and hugged each other. When we went down for breakfast, my brother had also arrived. I had missed him like crazy since I hadn't seen him for days. "Brother!" I shouted, hugging his neck. This action must have made him very happy because he was laughing heartily. "It seems you missed me a lot?" he said. "I missed you," I said. "I haven't seen you for a week. You didn't answer my calls. We only managed to talk once, and that was..." I said, turning to Yasemin. Her eyes were telling me to be quiet. Smiling slyly, I looked at my brother. "You were busy and brushed me off," I said. My brother said, "Let's sit at the table," smiling. "Brother, I thought you wouldn't come today either." "Would I leave my sister alone on her most beautiful day?" he said, putting his arm around my neck and pulling me close. He kissed my hair. "I'm sorry," he said. I lifted my head and looked into his eyes. "For what you had to go through because of my mother," he said. "Brother, it's not your fault," I said, looking into his eyes. "For trying to separate you from the man you love," he said, his eyes welling up. "For allowing the man you love to be shot," he said, expressing his regret. ******
After breakfast, my father and I went up to his study because he said he needed to talk to me. He had found out about what Koray did to me the previous night. He questioned why I had hidden it from him. He said that Sarp had beaten him severely, and he was in the hospital with serious injuries, and he would never be able to approach me again. We talked about how I would be leaving home today to live within another family, and no matter what, I should share any problems with him like a father and daughter. "I'm always by your side, my little girl," he said, hugging me. "Thank you, Dad. I know you would do anything for me. And I would for you too," I said, hugging him just as tightly. ****** I had put on my wedding dress, and the hairdresser who came to the house had done my hair and makeup. The girls had also put on the clothes they brought and gotten ready. My princess-style wedding dress looked very beautiful on me. With the high-heeled white shoes I wore underneath, my height had increased a bit. I wouldn't reach Sarp's height, but I would be a bit closer, I guess. They had styled my hair in loose curls, put it up in a messy bun, and placed a beautiful tiara on it. My makeup wasn't overdone at all. At the sound of Kader's voice, I pulled my gaze away from the full-length mirror and looked at her. She was wearing an elegant dress and looking at me. She had just gotten engaged to the man she loved. Her face was always smiling with happiness. "My dear Ceyda, the groom's side will be here soon. Your grandmother said you should come down now." "Okay, my dear Kader," I said, smiling. "By the way, you look very beautiful. Is your fiancé coming to the wedding too?" I said. "Thank you, of course he's coming. I'll introduce him to you," she said.
"Oh, the groom's side is coming? By the way, am I on the bride's side or the groom's?" said Sibel, smiling. "Where are you going to go, leaving this environment, girl?" said Yasemin. We all went down to the living room, smiling. The house was crowded. Everyone was in a flurry of activity. My brother was standing, waiting for me with a red ceremonial belt. As he bent down to tie the belt around my waist, Sarp came into my line of sight. He was watching me, smiling. My brother tied the belt, hugged me, and kissed me. "Be happy for life, my beautiful sister," he said. He held out his arm. Smiling, I took his arm. Walking like this, we stopped in front of Sarp. The two of them were looking at each other. My brother said, "I'm entrusting my sister to you." He was looking at Sarp as if he hated him. "Don't forget, I still don't trust you. My sister is everything to me. If I hear that you've upset her, I won't hesitate to finish the unfinished business." With a sudden anxiety filling me, I said, "Brother," begging him to be quiet. Sarp approached my brother with a mocking expression on his face. "Believe me, you're alive thanks to my beautiful wife," he said. My brother's face tensed even more. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, my father came to us. "How eager you both are to ruin my daughter's happiest day," he said. "Sarp, let's go," he said. Sarp took my hand and led me out of the house. My morale was low; just a short while ago, I was flying high with happiness.
As I sat in the passenger seat of the car, Sarp leaned close to me. We made eye contact. "Don't let that beautiful face frown," he said, smiling, while fastening my seatbelt. The fear of losing him filled me. I opened my arms and hugged his neck tightly. Laughing, he said, "My beauty, from now on, I'm yours. You can hug me as much as you want." ****** Our wedding would be in the garden of the large house where Sarp's family lived. Right now, I was pacing around the room excitedly, fidgeting with my hands. My dear friends and my dear sister-in- law were all sitting elegantly beside me. "Ceyda, if you sit down a bit, you'll be tired all night anyway," said Elif. I looked at my good-hearted friend's innocent face. "I know, Elif, but I'm so excited, I can't help it," I said. Sibel smiled and said, "Well, if I were marrying a handsome man like my brother, I'd be as excited as you are," she said. As I smiled back at her, there was a knock on the door. Thinking Sarp had arrived, I quickly moved towards the door. Behind me, Sibel laughed and said, "Look, look how she runs when her husband comes." When I opened the door, Kaya stood before me, looking very handsome in his black suit. "Ceyda," he said, suddenly hugging me. "Good-for-nothing, where have you been for days?" "You're right, my beauty, but I had some business." "Was this business more important than me, I wonder?"
"Could anything be more important than you? My father called me. We made up. He wanted me to take over the company." "And what did you do?" I asked curiously. "I accepted," he said, smiling. Together with the girls, we screamed and hugged Kaya. "Enough, girls, you'll suffocate me," said Kaya, and we separated, laughing. He took my hand and spun me around. "Ceyda, you look like a princess. What is this beauty, girl?" he said, looking the girls over. "You've all become such hotties," he said, his gaze shifting to Sibel, who was sitting quietly in a corner. Letting go of my hand, he approached Sibel. "Aren't you going to introduce me to this beautiful lady?" he said. "Sibel," I said as Kaya kissed Sibel's hand. They couldn't take their eyes off each other. "Sarp's sister." Just as he was about to swear, the girls and I shouted, "Kaya!" You know, he didn't digest Sarp very well. When the door knocked again, this time Kaya opened it. When Sarp saw that Kaya had opened the door, his smiling face turned serious. "What the hell are you doing among the girls?" he said. "Do I need your permission to see my sisters?" said Kaya.
When Sarp pushed Kaya aside and came to me, I watched him, smiling. In his black suit and carefully styled hair, he looked very handsome. He was looking me over too. He came close, kissed my forehead, and breathed in my scent. "You're so beautiful," he said. As his arms wrapped around my waist, we made eye contact. We looked at each other with admiration, butterflies fluttering in my heart. I was so excited I couldn't swallow. When the door knocked, we turned in that direction. Kaya opened the door, and Cem appeared at the door in his elegant suit. Grabbing his lapels, he made a gesture as if saluting. "Brother, everyone is waiting for you," he said. Sarp looked into my eyes and took my hand. Together, we left the room and went out into the garden. As we walked along the path decorated with flowers, my friends and many guards followed us. When we reached the wedding area, the crowd I saw surprised me greatly. When we reached the dance floor, dance music started playing. As soon as Sarp held my waist, we started dancing. At that moment, it was as if only Sarp and I existed; the surroundings had blurred. Dancing in his arms, my feet were lifting off the ground. When I looked around, many couples started dancing along with us. In my line of sight, Yasemin and my brother, Aslı with Erdem, and Elif with Cem were dancing. I looked at them, smiling. It seemed my friends had found their soulmates. For a moment, my smile faded when I saw Sibel dancing in Kaya's arms. If Sarp saw, it could cause trouble. This Kaya had a death wish too. "Why did your beautiful face frown, baby?" For a moment, I looked at his eyes in surprise. Had he just said "baby"? I started laughing out loud. "What's wrong? Why are you looking so surprised now?" I forgot why I had frowned from excitement. And his sweet smile like this—it made me forget everything.
"From happiness, your feet have left the ground too, admit it, my beauty? You've fallen madly in love with me?" I pulled myself together and grinned. "Actually, you're the one madly in love with me?" "I'm already crazy about you," he said, moving even closer to me. ****** Everyone was in high spirits. Sarp and I greeted all the guests. We met most of them. Relatives had come from Urfa, Bitlis, Izmir, and many other cities. It turned out I had so many relatives. I had met many cousins I had never known before. Music was playing from all genres. Folk dance music started playing, like on my birthday. Kaya came to the table where I was sitting and pulled me into the crowd. I didn't know where Sarp was. Kaya had taught his teacher the folk dance, but the width of my dress was hindering my movement. Kaya's final solution was to put me at the head of the dance line. Over the sound of the music, I shouted, "Kaya, don't you think this is a bit weird?" Smiling, he said, "Just focus on having fun tonight, princess." The dance line kept turning, and we had gotten really into it. My face was constantly smiling. When the music stopped, we had to stop too. Sarp suddenly appeared in front of me. "I see you're having a lot of fun, my dear wife? You must be tired; let's sit for a bit," he said, taking my hand. "By the way, where did you learn to dance like that?" he said. "Of course, Kaya taught me," I said. When he heard Kaya's name, he made a face.
"You should start liking Kaya," I said. Smiling, he said, "What is there to like about that guy?" As we were about to sit down, our families and Sarp's family came to us and started putting on many pieces of jewelry. Then relatives and guests came and put on more jewelry. I turned and looked at Sarp in great surprise. He smiled back. My surprise was because of the amount of jewelry; I could barely carry myself. Finally, when the jewelry ceremony ended, I sat down to rest a bit. The music continued to play. My friends pulled us up. Holding the sides of my dress as I walked, I looked down at myself; my arms and neck weren't visible from underneath the jewelry. Sarp's father had even put a gold belt on me. After having fun for a while, we had reached the end of the night. Now it was time to say goodbye to my family. I hugged everyone one by one. It was as if I were moving to another city. My grandmother started crying, saying, "My dear." Then Hatice abla, Kader, my friends. I lightly tapped Yasemin's shoulder. "Don't be silly, girls, what are you doing?" I said. Elif said, "When everyone cried, we couldn't help it. You're so unemotional; not a single tear came from your eyes," and I laughed and said, "What would I cry about?" At that moment, my laughter stopped in shock at the person I saw before me. I couldn't believe it. My eyes welled up. I, who had been unaffected by everyone's crying, was now shedding streams of tears. "Mom," I said. She was wearing an elegant dark blue dress. Her light brown hair was pulled up, and she was smiling. She was well; she had come for me.
"My daughter," she called out. She spoke; I heard her voice for the first time. "Mom," I said, hugging her neck. "You're well, you recognize me, you came for me," I said. She hugged me tightly, kissed me, smelled me. "I came for you, my child," she said.