I was very happy today, but there was a feeling of unease gripping me intermittently. This unease, whose cause I didn't know, was tightening my chest. I took a deep breath and looked at the girls getting ready, smiling. Each of them was shining brightly. I wouldn't tell them about this feeling I was having and spoil their mood. Finally, the wedding day of my dear sister-in-law and my dear friend Kaya had arrived. Whatever was bothering me was completely unfounded. Today, everything would be very beautiful. Holding the edge of my long, trailing skirt, I walked towards Sibel. The hairdresser had just finished her makeup. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, "You look so beautiful, my dear. You look amazing," I said. "Thank you, my beautiful sister-in-law, you look amazing too. When my brother sees you like this, he'll fall in love with you all over again." "Never mind me, Kaya will lose his mind when he sees you." In her white wedding dress, she looked just like a fairy. She was radiating constant smiles from happiness. "So, how do I look, girls?" said Yasemin. She was wearing a black mini dress and had put her blonde hair, which she usually left down, into a bun at the nape of her neck. "Do you think Atlas will propose to me tonight?" She put one hand on her hip and started walking with a model's poise. "You don't need to try so hard for my brother to like you, dear Yasemin. You are a very beautiful girl even at your most unkempt. Your blonde hair and green eyes are enough. As for the marriage proposal, he'll propose very soon," I said. She must have really liked my words because she quickly came to me and hugged me tightly. "I could just eat up a sister-in-law like you." We both started laughing.
"Enough, Yasemin, our hair and makeup will get ruined now," I said. She was hugging me like crazy. We had gotten ready in the large room with a team of five hairdressers. The groom and the men were getting ready in another room. When the door opened, I turned around to see who had come. Kaya entered first, followed by my handsome husband. When Kaya and Sibel made eye contact, they both took deep breaths from happiness and moved closer to each other. Seeing them like that made my eyes well up. I shouldn't cry. I had been getting emotional all day. I didn't want my makeup to run and my face to look terrible. I had already suffered quite a bit while getting my makeup done, and I didn't want to go through that again. "You're so beautiful," said Kaya, hugging Sibel. He looked mesmerized. When they stayed like that for a while, Sarp couldn't take it and said, "Are we going to wait like this all night?" Kaya reluctantly let go of Sibel and offered her his arm. "Shall we go out if you're ready?" he said, smiling excitedly. As they linked arms and left the room, my handsome husband pulled me to him and hugged my waist. "You're enchanting me again, my wife." He was examining every part of me. He was looking at my gold, lace-detailed, strappy evening gown. It wasn't too revealing, but I hoped he wouldn't find any fault with it. I had bought this dress that I really liked with the girls and Aylin mom. Since Sarp was working a lot and came home late, he wasn't with us when we went shopping. "You're so beautiful. I really don't want to dress you up like this and take you out among people." "Don't you dare find fault with my dress, Sarp, today is Sibel's wedding. You know I usually pay attention to my clothes," I said. Smiling, he leaned in further to kiss me. I put my hands on his chest to stop him from kissing me. When I looked around, my friends and Sibel's two friends smiled at us and left the room. The hairdressing team was also packing up their things. When I turned back to Sarp, his face was very close to mine, grinning. "Let's go now," I said, but he hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek loudly.
We both laughed, holding hands as we left the room. Walking down the hallway, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He had a unique handsomeness for me. His black suit and the white shirt he wore underneath, his carefully combed hair, his flawless skin... I couldn't take my eyes off him. "You look very handsome," I said. Giving me a flirtatious look, he said, "I'm always like this, but today I made an extra effort to be worthy of my beautiful wife." I think I would be very jealous of my husband tonight. When we left the house, a long convoy was waiting for us. Once everyone got into the cars, we set off for Kaya's house. Cem and Elif were in our car. Cem also looked very stylish. My dear friend Elif looked very cute in her Nile green dress. I had no doubt they loved each other now. They were meeting frequently, even going out without me. Aslı and Erdem joined them too. I was very pleased with this situation. I wasn't being separated from my friends. We were still getting together often. Yasemin also had a good relationship with my brother. I don't know if it was because I was so happy, but I felt as if this happiness would fly away from my hands one day. Wasn't that always the way? Sometimes the fear of loss seeps into you when your loved ones are with you. When we arrived at Kaya's house, Sarp gave the key to one of the guards to park the car. Kaya and Sibel led the way, followed by us and all the couples, entering the garden. A red carpet and white roses decorated the path all the way. Luckily, the weather was nice today. There was a warm breeze. When we reached the area prepared for the event, the beautiful bride and groom started dancing to beautiful music. They both looked so beautiful. As I made good wishes for them in my heart, my teary eyes were at it again. There was an emotional unease on me today, for a reason I didn't know. During the second dance song, Sarp held my hand tightly and pulled me to him. "Shall we dance, my wife?" Smiling, I said, "With pleasure."
As we joined the dance, my brother and Yasemin, followed by Aslı and Erdem, Elif and Cem, and many other guests joined the dance. Aytaç was dancing with one of Sibel's friends. Even he wasn't alone tonight. It wasn't as crowded as my wedding due to security reasons. Many security measures had been taken around. When our dance ended, we moved towards my family. My whole family was together. My mom, dad, Sevil mom, and Yusuf dad were sitting at a table with Sarp's family. Seeing them together, I once again realized how lucky I was, as I had many times before. I hugged and kissed each one of them. They were also in good spirits. A while later, Sibel came to our table, took my hand, and pulled me up from my seat. "What kind of sister-in-law are you, coming to my wedding to sit?" she said, pulling me and looking at her brother sitting next to me. "Brother, get up, come on," she said, frowning. Everyone at the table was laughing, and Sarp had also gotten up. "We were coming anyway." "Quiet, sister-in-law, no sitting for you tonight. I want to see you by my side all the time." We danced all night to folk music. As Sibel's only sister-in-law, I also applied her henna. My dear sister-in-law's father-in-law, meaning my dear friend Kaya's family, had spared no expense. Various foods and treats were being served to the guests. While Sibel danced tirelessly, my battery had run out. I had been on my feet for hours. Sarp was chatting at his friends' table; I thought I could rest a bit next to him. As I was walking towards Sarp, I bumped into a body in the crowd. Holding my arm, the man opposite me said, "Excuse me, ma'am." I pulled the arm he was holding back towards me.
"It's nothing," I said. Just as I was about to pass by him, he took a step towards me and blocked my way. "I've been watching you all night. You are very beautiful. If you give me the chance to talk to you a bit......" Cutting him off, I said, "Who are you? Get out of my way." Who was this man? I don't think I've ever seen him before. Didn't he know I was Sarp's wife? He put his hand on my arm again. "We'll just talk a bit. I'm telling you I like you very much. Why don't you understand me?" Was this man crazy? He had locked his dark eyes on mine and was squeezing my arm. He was very close to me. "Let go," I said through gritted teeth. I didn't want to shout and ruin the evening. I quickly freed my arm from his grip. Suddenly, I saw Sarp punching the man. This is exactly what I was afraid of. The people dancing on the floor and everyone else were looking at Sarp and the man he was punching in surprise, not understanding what was happening. Just as I was about to reach out to stop Sarp, someone grabbed my arm. I turned and saw my former boss, Sister Firuze. "Sister Firuze, were you here? I didn't see you all night," I said. Smiling, she said, "I had work, I just arrived." When Sarp shouted, "Ceyda!" I turned to him. Two guards were dragging away the man Sarp had beaten. When Sarp took my hand and pulled me, I followed him. When we were a bit away from the crowd, he let go of my hand and stopped in front of me. "Who is that man? What were you talking about?" His eyebrows were furrowed as much as possible, and he was breathing heavily through his nose.
"I don't know him. We weren't talking." "Is that why he didn't leave your side? You were talking. He was almost hugging you. How could you let him get that close to you? Tell me? Do you know him?" He held my arm tightly and started shaking me. "Answer me, who is that bastard? An old boyfriend?" I couldn't believe I was experiencing this. Sarp was demanding answers like a madman, squeezing my arm. His eyes were red, his hair was disheveled and falling over his forehead. The man who never hurt me, who was afraid of upsetting me, who said he would never shout at me, who couldn't bear to, was now shaking me. I couldn't understand why he was so enraged. It was the first time I was seeing him like this. "Get a hold of yourself, Sarp," I said. I couldn't stop my voice from trembling. "What are you saying to me? What boyfriend? I don't know the man. He suddenly appeared in front of me. He said he liked me and wanted to talk to me." "And you allowed that?" "You've gone crazy," I said in disbelief. "You're being very hurtful. I don't understand you. It seems you still don't know me. I don't want to talk to you for a while. Please leave my side. We can talk when you've calmed down. I don't want to argue with you." It was as if my whole body was trembling. The air was warm, but I was freezing as if I were in the middle of winter. "Ceyda," I turned to Sister Firuze, who called my name and came to my side. "Please calm down? Both of you are very tense right now," she said, looking at Sarp. Sarp took a deep breath, let go of my arm, and put his hand on his waist. "Come on, Ceyda, let's go, your makeup has run, let's clean it up," she said, linking her arm with mine. I only then realized I was crying.
I left Sarp where he was as we walked towards the house. He had hurt my heart deeply. He had promised me he would never hurt me. I felt like crying like crazy inside. The unease that had been bothering me intermittently all day must have been this. How could he not trust me? As Sister Firuze and I entered the house, I was clenching my teeth to keep from crying. I couldn't speak a word. She wasn't speaking either, just following me silently. The inside seemed empty. Apparently, they hadn't placed any guards inside the house. When we went upstairs, we started walking down the hallway. This house wasn't as big as ours, but it was still a large house. As we walked down the long hallway, Sister Firuze paused and turned me towards her. "Ceyda," she said and fell silent. Her eyes were looking everywhere but at me. She seemed strange. "Sister Firuze, what's wrong?" I said, bringing my hand to her chin and lifting her face to make her look at me. "Why are you crying?" "Ceyda, I'm sorry. Forgive me. I had to do this." "Can you tell me what's going on?" I said. Forcing herself to look into my eyes, she said, "Forgive me." At that moment, with the loud gunshots coming from outside, it felt like something inside me broke. Holding my breath in fear and panic, my feet started running independently of me. The shouts and gunshots from outside, like doomsday, were about to make me lose my mind. Before I could reach the stairs leading downstairs, two people grabbed me by the arms. When I turned my head to the left, Sister Firuze was still crying, holding my arm. Before I could understand what was happening, a sting on the right side of my neck caused me to groan "Ah." As my head spun and my vision darkened, my consciousness began to fade in and out. I turned my head slowly to the right. I had always trusted Sister Firuze. I wanted to see why and with whom shehad done this to me. Until this age, I had seen and trusted every person as being like me. My boss and her husband, whom I had worked for for over two years, with whom I had shared many things, whom I had always believed loved me – I couldn't understand what they were after. As my consciousness faded completely, the surroundings became enveloped in darkness. ************ As Ceyda entered the house with Firuze, Sarp was still unable to digest his anger and was watching her from behind. He took deep breaths, trying to calm down. He regretted very much having hurt Ceyda by giving in to his anger, but he couldn't stomach that bastard holding Ceyda's arm and getting so close to her. Was I too harsh, did I hurt her too much? he thought, when Aytaç approached him. "Brother, why did you jump on her without asking or understanding what happened? And you beat the guy to a pulp too." "Didn't you see, son? The bastard was blatantly hitting on Ceyda. What did you expect me to do? Stand by and watch?" Aytaç thought for a few seconds, then said, "Do you know the man?" When Sarp said, "No, it's the first time I'm seeing him," Aytaç frowned. The guest list prepared for tonight was under his control. "There's something fishy here. I'll interrogate the guy and warn the guards to be on high alert. We should stop the music and make sure we're safe," said Aytaç. For some reason, a suspicion had filled him. As Aytaç had said, he gathered a few of his men, informed all the guards to be on high alert, and then dispersed them. Not much time had passed when guns went off with a great noise. Unidentified individuals wearing black masks, engaging in a firefight with the guards at the garden entrance, were entering the garden by taking down the guards one by one.
While Sarp, Aytaç, Atlas, and their men were fighting the arrivals, the families and guests were screaming, some trying to run away, some hiding under tables. Aslan and Aziz Bey were also shielding their families with their guns in hand. Kaya was hugging Sibel, trying to protect her. A great scream had enveloped the surroundings. In a short time, people were collapsing, shot. Some dead, some wounded. All the guards positioned around the house gathered and shielded the people. But the number of those shot was high. A great noise enveloped the night. It was like doomsday. Screams, bullet sounds flying through the air, The surroundings were a bloodbath.