I was pacing around my room like a mad bull, phone in hand. It was almost morning and this man still hadn't returned. I was going crazy with curiosity. I called him so many times, he didn't answer my calls. Who with, where? Wouldn't a person say? It's only been a week since we got married. Would a person leave his wife of one week at her father's house, say "I'm coming," and then not show up until morning? I tried to sleep while waiting for Sarp, but I couldn't. Not wanting to wake anyone, I quietly made and drank coffee in the kitchen. He didn't come. I went out to the garden, thinking maybe I'd calm down if I got some air. I couldn't calm down. As soon as I stepped into the garden, one of the men came over and said, "Is there a problem, Miss Ceyda?" No matter how much I said 'no,' I couldn't stay out long because the men wouldn't take their eyes off me. I read a book. I scrolled through social media on my phone. I wandered around the empty rooms in the house. Well, I might have also gone into one or two of the staff rooms on the ground floor. But when I realized they were occupied, I quietly exited and closed the door immediately. Of course, I hadn't dared to go down to the basement prison and look. One day, I had to talk to my father about this. What was his reason for building that room? Would he be angry with me? But I had to find out. How many people did he torture there? Was my father really that cruel? I was tired from pacing around the room. I went out to the balcony and sat on a chair. I fixed my eyes on the gate. Why hadn't he come yet? What was this so important business? Couldn't this business wait until morning? Or was he cheating on me? Just thinking of him with another woman made my heart ache. He wouldn't do that to me, right? How would I know he wouldn't?
What if he is cheating? My eyes started to well up immediately. I leaned over and reached for the cigarette pack on the table. I took one and lit it with the lighter. As I inhaled the smoke, my tears started to flow. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I started to mutter to myself. "You're a fool, girl. Of course, he'll cheat on you if you're such a crybaby. If you say 'okay' to everything he says, if you say 'you know best,' of course, he'll see you as naive and cheat. You're a fool, girl. How long have you known the man? This is what happens if you get married without really knowing him." "And don't you dare hide behind saying 'he kidnapped me and forced me to marry him.' You agreed too. You could have resisted if you wanted to. How old are you anyway?" While I was berating myself in anger, I took another drag from my cigarette. As I wiped my tears on the sleeve of my nightgown, the sound of the gate made me lift my head and look. As the gate opened, Sarp's car entered the garden. I waited angrily for him to get out of the car. He parked the car in a corner of the large garden. I was stunned by who got out of the car. My brother got out with Sarp. Was I seeing things wrong? Where were Sarp and my brother coming from together? This couldn't be. My brother didn't like Sarp at all. I immediately left my room and ran downstairs. I stopped close to the door and waited for them. They didn't notice me in the dark as they quietly opened the door and came in. My brother started speaking without turning on the light. "Hey, don't make a sound, I don't want our folks waking up at this hour. I can't deal with a bunch of questions right now." As soon as my brother turned on the light, they both saw me standing there and looked at my face in surprise, like guilty men. They looked so funny. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. I put my hands on my hips and frowned. "Where are you two coming from at this hour? May I know?" Sarp immediately rushed towards me, "Darling, you're still awake?" he said.
I held my right hand out towards him, "Stop right there," I said. "Tell me right now, where were you all night? And you two can't stand each other. What's going on?" "Look, my love..." Sarp started, but my brother interrupted him, raising his hand and stepping towards Sarp. "Listen, son, don't go around calling my sister 'my love,' 'darling' in front of me." "What nonsense are you talking about? Ceyda is my wife, I can say whatever I want, wherever I want. No one, not even you, can interfere with that." "If I shout now, you'll have to answer to my father instead of me," I said, raising my voice slightly. "Okay, big brother, don't shout, we'll tell you where we came from. Come on, let's go up to our rooms now," my brother said, putting an arm around me. "Look, Sarp had some business he couldn't handle," he explained as we climbed the stairs. "He asked me, 'Brother, can you help me?' And since he's my dear sister's husband now, I agreed." I heard Sarp grumbling behind us. "Now your husband will explain the details to you. I'm going to my room to rest, my dear," he said, planting a kiss on my hair. "Brother, you tricked me like a child. I'm going to hold you accountable for this," I said. He smiled and entered his room. I turned to Sarp with a frown. Like my brother, his hair was disheveled, and he was looking at me innocently with his handsome face. When we entered the room, I panicked upon noticing the bloodstains on his white shirt.
"Sarp, what are these bloodstains?" I said. I immediately took off his jacket. The bloodstains were only on the front of his shirt. Thinking he was hurt, I panicked and started taking off his shirt while he said with an embarrassed expression, "I tried so hard not to get my clothes dirty, but I still couldn't manage it." I examined his body; there didn't seem to be any wounds, but my eyes caught on the bullet scar near his chest. Despite everything, he had forgiven my brother for me, my big-hearted love. I couldn't help myself and kissed the bullet wound. Sarp let out a deep sigh and held me tightly. "I don't want you staying awake until this hour for me, my wife. I know I'm very late. My work took a long time. Sometimes it can take this long; you need to get used to it." "Do you know how worried I was? How many hours has it been? It's almost morning. I thought of everything. I even thought you were cheating on me. I worked myself up and even cried," I said. Sarp laughed and looked at my face as if he couldn't believe it. "How could you think I was cheating on you? Damn, I kidnapped and married you despite our elders and everything. I'm willing to give my life for you. How could you doubt my love?" "I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Then tell me, where were you with my brother all these hours? What did you do? Where did the bloodstains on your shirt come from? Tell me right now!" "Like your brother said, I had some business I was in a tight spot with." "Tell me the truth, Sarp, I don't believe this lie," I said. "Okay, this evening while we were drinking coffee in the garden, your father asked who cut off our car and what they wanted. I said I would handle it, that it wasn't anything important. When your brother said he'd help, no matter how much I said it wasn't necessary, he insisted. So we went to scare the guy. That's all, nothing else happened."
I looked at his face in disbelief. "Are you sure that's all?" I said. "Believe me, that's all, my love," he said, but my eyes were drawn to the dried bloodstains on his hands. "What happened to your hands?" I said. Panic was washing over me again. "It's nothing, beautiful," Sarp said, but I didn't listen to him and quickly got up from the bed and left the room. I got the necessary supplies from the medicine cabinet downstairs and cleaned Sarp's hands. I didn't stop muttering the whole time. "What's this state of your hand? Did you punch a wall? Or did you punch the guy? Tell me, or did you kill the man?" Finally, Sarp pulled me into bed with him to make me stop muttering. "Shhh. Calm down, my wife. Throw all those bad thoughts out of your head." ****** After a nice breakfast, we had said goodbye to my family and left the house. My brother hadn't been able to wake up in the morning because he couldn't sleep at night. Despite all my efforts, when he didn't wake up, I had poured a glass of water on his face. He woke up in a panic, swearing, and Sarp, who was watching us with a smile, stepped towards my brother. When we got to our house, Sarp dropped me off and went to the company. There was a flurry of activity and running around in the house. Mrs. Aylin's friends were coming to meet me. I had gone into the kitchen to help Peri and Gül, whose names I had just learned, who worked in the house. While I was making apple pie, the two of them were rolling stuffed vine leaves. "You scared me, girl. I told my brother, 'This new bride probably can't do anything,' but you proved me wrong," said Sister Peri. Both sisters spoke with a slight eastern accent.
Smiling, I took my baking dish out of the oven and put the second one in. "So you thought I was incompetent?" I said, turning towards them. "I may not be very skilled, but I know a little something about kitchen work," I said, sitting down next to them. "Well, my dear Sibel doesn't know anything about the kitchen. All she does is eat, drink, get dressed up, and go out," said Sister Gül. They were both middle-aged. "Sister Peri, are you from Urfa too? Where is your family? Do you always live here as live-ins?" I asked curiously. I had seen that they stayed in this house the previous night we stayed here. "Yes, my beautiful girl, we live here. Thank God, Aslan Bey is a distant relative. He sheltered us, took care of us. We've been living here for years." "And your family, did they stay in Urfa?" I asked with great curiosity. Sometimes I get very curious. Just like when I entered Sarp's forest house. Sometimes I think, thank goodness I got lost and entered Sarp's house. Sometimes my curiosity paid off. Like how it brought me Sarp. "We have no family except each other," said Sister Peri with a sigh. "There are relatives, but it's not like your own family, girl. When your parents die, you become destitute. You become wretched. Just like my name." "What do you mean?" I said, surprised. I thought her name was very beautiful. "Your name is very beautiful, Sister Peri." "Perişan," she said, laughing. "Perişan?" I was even more surprised. Who would name their daughter 'Wretched'? I couldn't help but laugh. Covering my mouth with my hand, I said, "I'm sorry, Sister Peri."
"It's okay, girl, you're right, I laugh too sometimes. Wondering what my mother was thinking when she gave me this name." Turning to Sister Gül with what came to my mind. She must have understood, because she said smiling, "Thank God they gave me a proper name. Gülperi," she said.I smiled. "Gülperi is nice," I said. Just then, with the smell of the pies, "Oh no, the pies!" I said, running to the oven. When I took the pies out, I felt relieved. Thankfully, my beautiful apple pies hadn't burned. They smelled wonderful. "Sister-in-law, the guests are almost here and you're still not ready?" While I was putting the pie on the counter, Sibel came into the kitchen muttering, and I turned to her. "Don't panic, my dear Sibel, I'll be ready in five minutes." "It took me a whole hour to get ready. Excuse me, dear sister-in-law, but how are you planning to get ready in five minutes? Do you have a magic wand that I can't see?" Smiling, I pinched her cheeks. "My sweet, you are very dressed up. I'm just going to change my clothes," I said. With her pink dress and makeup, she looked very beautiful. She looked at the pies and said, "Did you make these? They smell wonderful."
"But I'll taste them later. Come on, let's go to your room and get you ready." "Wait, girl, what is this excitement? People will think suitors are coming for you," said Sister Gül. "Who knows where my destiny will come from? I must always be well-groomed," said Sibel. She really was very excited; this girl had something going on. As Sibel took my hand and pulled me, Peri and Gül were laughing behind us. We reached the large living room and were quickly climbing the stairs when we encountered Mrs. Aylin. "Slow down, girls, why are you running? What's the rush?" I thought so too, what's the rush? "Mom, the guests are almost here and dear sister-in-law still isn't ready." "It's okay, my girl. No need to rush. What if Ceyda is pregnant? Be a little careful, won't you?" Hearing this, I said, "Pregnant?" in surprise. Sibel was no different from me. "What!" she shouted. My face had immediately turned red. Could it be? No way, it's only been a few days since we got married. "Of course, my girl, it could happen, it could. Calmly come down these stairs." When we got to my room, Sibel was shouting excitedly, "Just think, sister-in-law, if you had a baby. I would be an aunt. Oh, I wonder if you could be pregnant?" "Don't be silly, Sibel, it's only been a few days since we got married."
"It can't happen?" She suddenly became innocent. "It can't," I said. "Anyway, dear sister-in-law, if it doesn't happen now, it will one day. Hurry up a bit, I still want to be an aunt," she said, opening the wardrobe. The dresses she took out were a bit over the top for the house. "Sibel, dear, I don't think I'll be wearing these dresses? I just want to wear a simple dress," I said. "Come on, sister-in-law, you're a new bride, they're coming to see you. You need to be a bit chic. You dress too plainly. I want you to wear one of these dresses." "But Sibel..." No matter how much I objected, I chose not to upset Sibel against her insistence and wore the white dress with thick straps and an open back that she wanted me to wear. I put on a little makeup and put my hair in a low bun. "You look amazing, sister-in-law, you look so beautiful," she said, looking me over. "Your figure is great, the dress fits you perfectly." "Yes, it looks good, but isn't the back too open?" "It's not open. I think, dear sister-in-law, enjoy it before it's too late. One of these days you might find out you're pregnant. Then what will happen? You'll gain weight day by day and get wider." I made a face and looked at Sibel. She was talking excitedly. This was her natural state. "None of your dresses will fit. Your body will change and be ruined. It will be hard to lose weight after giving birth." She started smiling slyly. "Maybe my brother won't like you when you're fat."
"You've spoken so encouragingly, my dear. You can be sure you've convinced me." "I'm joking, sister-in-law," she said, smiling. "My brother would like you even if you were fat." "Okay, Sibel, let's go down," I said, and she grabbed my arm and grinned. This sister-in-law was a bit strange too; her actions sometimes made me nervous. "Sister-in-law, why don't you set me up with that handsome friend of yours, Kaya?" I started laughing, unable to hold back. "I was wondering when you would bring this up. At my wedding, you were practically falling into my friend's arms. I'm not thinking of feeding him to you, my dear sister-in-law," I said, teasing. "I've already set him up, dear sister-in-law." My eyes widened like saucers. "When?" I said. "A few days ago. I found his social media account. We started following each other. The next day, I couldn't help it and told him I was very impressed by him." My eyes widened even more in disbelief. "And he said he was impressed by me too." "So you've already cooked it up. Then what do you want from me?" "Kaya is very scared of that crazy brother of yours. And he won't accept my offer to meet. After we see off the guests, will you get me together with Kaya, my beautiful sister-in-law?"
After thinking for a bit, considering how well-suited they were for each other, and that however crazy she was, Sibel was a good girl, and I saw no harm in my dear friend being with her, I said, "Okay." I took my phone and called Kaya. After he made up with his father, he was working in the family business. When I told him we were coming to the company, he suggested meeting at the Tarot cafe. This way we could see the girls too. After hanging up, we went down to the living room. Sibel was even more pleased. When the guests arrived, Aylin mom introduced me to each one of them. Aylin mom's friends were modest people like her. As I chatted with them, Sibel, sitting next to me, kept poking me and making signs for us to go. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and said, "Sister-in-law, can you come here for a minute?" She took the serving plate from my hand and put it on the coffee table. She pulled me by the arm and took me out of the living room. "Sister-in-law, shouldn't we go now?" she said. "Sibel, dear, I was enjoying the snacks. What's your hurry?" I said, raising one eyebrow. "If you keep eating like this, we won't recognize you soon, you'll change so much." I let out a laugh. "Girl, you've really fallen for my handsome friend, haven't you? Okay, let's go, but let me tell your brother first, otherwise leaving the house might be problematic." "Don't let my brother come. Tell him we're going to spend some girl time together." When I called Sarp, he answered just before it was about to go to voicemail. "My wife." "My love, how are you?" We had never really been boyfriend and girlfriend. I had suddenly found myself as Sarp's wife. That's why, even though I was a bit shy saying such words to him, I liked it.
"Is it possible for me to feel bad after hearing your voice, my beautiful?" Hearing Sarp's voice made me excited. "I miss you so much. I'll finish my work and come as soon as possible. I already miss your scent, my beautiful." Oh, how nice, he calls me 'my beautiful'. "Sarp, Sibel and I want to go to the cafe to see the girls." "Okay, my beautiful, tell Aytaç to take you." For some reason, I could never warm up to this Aytaç. And it couldn't be said that he liked me much either. "Darling, could Cem and Erdem take us instead?" I said. Of course, while asking for this, I was also thinking of my friends Elif and Aslı. I knew my friends were interested in these young men. "Okay, I'll call them, they can take you, my beautiful." "Okay, darling, see you then," I said. When I hung up, Sibel was looking at me with a grin. "Sister-in-law, you blushed like a tomato. You're crazy in love with my brother." Smiling, I put my hands on my burning cheeks. Yes, I had fallen crazily in love with my husband. ****** When we arrived at the cafe, the girls greeted us at the door. I had missed them so much. We went and sat at the table they reserved for us. Sister Firuze also sat at our table for a short while to keep us company, then went to her own table to read fortunes. The cafe was again full of fortune-telling enthusiasts. Since they had hired new staff, my friends could sit with us comfortably. Our Mr. Kaya hadn't arrived yet. I was so engrossed in conversation that I only noticed something from Elif and Aslı's glances when I turned around. Erdem and Cem were standing behind me, their large bodies imposing, though not as much as my husband's. When I frowned and looked at them, Erdem took a step forward and said, "Sister-in-law, is there a problem?"
"Yes, there is a problem," I said. "Why are you standing there instead of sitting down?" Erdem looked around. His eyes were looking for an empty table, I think. "Erdem, would you consider sitting with us, perhaps?" I said. The girls smiled and pointed to the spaces next to them. "Erdem." "Yes, sister-in-law." "Sit next to Aslı," I said seriously. "Cem, let's have you sit next to Elif." They sat where I told them without objection. They were all quite happy with their seats. "So why is my boyfriend late?" said Sibel. Everyone turned to Sibel. "He'll be here soon," I said, laughing loudly. "Who is your boyfriend anyway?" said Yasemin with great curiosity. "My one and only love, Kaya, of course." "What!..." said the girls in great surprise.
When Cem said to Sibel, "Does your brother know?" "No," said Sibel, frowning. "And you won't say anything until I tell him." She directed her frown at Erdem too. I think these two wouldn't keep it from Sarp. When Sibel saw Kaya arriving, she immediately got up and hugged him around the neck. Just as Cem was about to call Sarp with the phone in his hand, I stopped him by grabbing the phone from his hand. "Sister-in-law, Sarp needs to know." "He will, Cem. Let her tell her brother herself. Or I'll talk to him when the time is right." When Kaya came to our table, I pulled Sibel, who was clinging to him like an octopus, and hugged him tightly. I had missed my friend so much. "So now I know why you haven't been calling me as much. You," I said, pinching his arm. "Why didn't you tell me you were dating my sister-in-law?" "You're hurting me, girl," said Kaya, making a face. "I'm not calling you because you're newly married. I don't want to deal with that crazy husband of yours." "You'll be dealing with my crazy husband even more," I said, pointing at Sibel. "And why is my husband supposed to be crazy?" Kaya started laughing. "Okay, I didn't say anything about your husband," he said, making a zipping motion over his mouth with his hand. As our conversation progressed, Sister Firuze joined us. She had her beautiful five-year-old daughter with her. I sat her on my lap and kissed her without squeezing too hard. She had very beautiful blue eyes, just like her mother. While the girls had their fortunes read, the boys declined and preferred to listen to the girls' fortunes. Of course, me too. After a while, Sister Firuze got up from the table with her honey-sweet daughter. When Yasemin looked at me and pointed at the others, I turned my gaze to them. Aslı was listening intently to something Erdem was telling her and laughing heartfelt laughs. Look at Aslı, how quickly she had forgotten Alp. Besides, Alp had turned out to be a psychopath. My polite friend Elif was blushing under Cem's admiring gaze. But she seemed quite pleased. When my eyes fell on my dear sister-in-law, I was surprised by how comfortable she was. As if her arms weren't enough, she had wrapped her legs around Kaya too. Like an octopus. And Kaya was looking at Sibel with admiration. Only Yasemin and I were left, like spare parts. Where had our men been? It was evening and my husband and brother were still nowhere to be seen. While we were watching the couples next to us for a while, my brother finally arrived. Yasemin's face lit up with a huge smile. I wish mine would too. I missed my handsome husband so much. As my brother hugged and kissed me, he said, "How are you, my brother's beautiful girl? Where is that crazy husband of yours?" "I'm fine, brother. Why does everyone keep calling my husband crazy?" I said. It really bothered me. "What craziness have you seen?" "Well, I don't know about others, but I've seen it," said my brother. Okay, I knew he was a bit wild, but it bothered me that they called him crazy.
Kaya was grinning too, as if to say "I've seen it too." I could have caused trouble between him and Yasemin by telling her he came home late last night, but when I saw the car parking at the door, I forgot everything. I quickly got up and ran towards the door. I couldn't believe it, I had missed him like crazy. When I reached the door, he got out of the car and saw me. He started smiling, just like me. How beautifully he smiled. Coffee-colored eyes, disheveled hair, he looked so handsome to me. As he walked towards me, I ran and jumped into his arms. As he spun me around slowly, he kissed me. How quickly had I fallen so crazily for this man? As I got down from his embrace, we held hands and entered the cafe. As we went to the table, Sarp greeted everyone. No matter how much Sibel separated from Kaya, she was sitting right next to him. This had caught Sarp's attention. "What's going on, man. Sibel, move over a bit, girl. Is there no room? You've planted yourself right next to him," he said, frowning. "Brother, I need to explain something to you. But first, promise you won't get angry and do something crazy?" Sarp raised one eyebrow and looked at his sister sitting across from him. Oh no, Sarp was going to blow up. "Tell me, my beautiful sister. What mischief have you been up to now?" "But brother, promise first?" "Okay, I won't get angry, sister, tell me," said Sarp, breathing out wearily. "I'm telling you, no matter what happens. We love each other, brother. We want to get married." Kaya said, "What?" in surprise. They probably hadn't discussed marriage at all. Sarp, however, paused for a moment, clenching his teeth.
"Do you realize what you're saying?" he said, practically roaring. He got up and grabbed Kaya by the collar. We all tried to separate them. "I'll kill you, man. When did you trick my sister?" He suddenly headbutted Kaya in the face, and Sibel screamed. While we were trying to pull Sarp away from Kaya, Erdem and Cem didn't move from their seats. Poor Kaya's nose was bleeding. When we finally forced Sarp to sit down, Sibel was scolding her brother. "Brother, I've grown up now. I love Kaya. I'm going to marry him. You broke his nose, you did," she said, hugging Kaya and making him sit on a chair. Everyone around us was looking at us. "What do you mean, 'I've grown up'? How old are you? How long have we known this guy?" Sarp was still breathing heavily through his nose. "Is Ceyda so much older, brother? She's my age. Is it normal for you but abnormal for me? Besides, Kaya is a very good man," she said, turning to Kaya, "Does it hurt a lot?" and hugged him. Kaya wasn't saying a word. He was looking at Sarp with a frown, taking short, sharp breaths. If he wanted, he could have punched Sarp too. Seeing this scene, Sarp practically roared and lunged at Sibel. Just as he was about to grab the girl, I intervened. "Sarp, please. Sibel is an adult too. Of course, she will have a boyfriend and get married too. It's a very natural thing. Look, you broke my friend's nose." "I didn't do enough. I'm going to beat both of them to a pulp." "If I'm not fighting back, it's for Sibel. Otherwise, I would have smashed your face," said Kaya. "Come on, then, come on, let's see you try." At the sound of my brother's voice, Sarp paused and turned to him."Sarp, they called from the house, we're going there now!" Sarp said, "What happened?" trying to understand. As my brother got up from the table in a panic, "Your father has raided our house. He says he's going to kill our grandfather," he said.