I opened my eyes slightly as the wonderful smells reached my nose. I started to smile. Sarp wasn't in bed. He was probably the source of these lovely smells coming from the kitchen. After all, we were alone in the house. He probably wouldn't invite anyone over on the first day of our marriage. Smiling, I took a deep breath as I got out of bed. I looked around. This was the house Sarp had bought for the two of us. Of course, I had found out about it last night when our wedding ended. This man hadn't considered me at all when decorating the room in grey and black tones. Although it was beautiful like this, I preferred lighter tones. I picked up my robe from the pouf at the foot of the bed and put it over my white strappy nightgown. I took a hair tie from the dressing table drawer and pulled my hair up. I looked at myself in the mirror. Smiling, I turned away from the mirror, and as I did, my foot hit something. I grimaced and looked at what I had hit. It was the bag with my jewelry. I sat down next to the bag, opened the zipper, and looked inside. I had never seen or heard of so much gold in one place. I was still as shocked as I was last night. What was that crowd at my wedding? Sarp's father had even put a gold belt on me. I could barely carry myself from the weight. I closed the bag, stood up, and pushed it aside with my foot.
When I left the room and went down to the large living room with a Bosphorus view, I saw Sarp preparing breakfast in the kitchen area connected to the living room. I walked quietly to him and hugged him from behind. He laughed out loud and turned to me. First, he looked me over. "Are you awake, my beautiful wife?" he said, hugging me tightly. As I pulled back, I gave his cheek a big kiss. "You made breakfast for me? Did you know how to do things like this?" I said, smiling. "I learned for you," he said. As I was about to turn to look at the table. "Where are you running off to, my beauty?" he said, grabbing my arms and pulling me towards him. "I'm starving. The breakfast looks amazing. If you hold me any longer, I'll eat you instead," I said, laughing. "So you're going to eat me? Let me eat you first and see," he said, leaning towards me. I slipped from his grasp and backed towards the table. "I'm hungry, let's eat," I said. When he grinned slyly and quickly lunged at me, I tried to run around the large living room. I was running, and Sarp was calmly following me. The living room was decorated in dark grey tones like the bedroom. I was panicking, running breathlessly around the sofas. He was still following me with that sly smile. Why was I panicking? It was as if he was literally going to eat me. Finally, as I tried to run towards the stairs, he suddenly grabbed me by the waist. I couldn't help but scream. "How far do you think you can run, my dear wife? Is it that easy to run away from me?" Before I knew what was happening, he gave a small bite to my neck. I screamed again.
"Sarp, what are you doing?" I said, holding the spot he had bitten. "Either you tell me how much you love me, or I'll take great pleasure in biting you all over." "I love you so much," I said hastily. I couldn't risk him biting me again. "Not like that, young lady. How much do you love me?" "There's no way to describe my love for you," I said, looking into his eyes. "You made me fall in love with you. I love you so much that I can't live without you now." He was smiling like a child. "Is that so?" he said, leaning towards me. I slipped from his arms. Laughing, I ran up the stairs. If I didn't run away, he would probably keep cornering me until I fainted from hunger. ****** I went downstairs wearing a pink strappy t-shirt and shorts. Sarp was waiting for me, drinking his coffee. As I approached the table, he pulled out the chair next to him for me to sit. "You could have started breakfast, why did you wait for me?" I said as I sat down. "I didn't want to start without you, my beautiful wife," he said, looking me over. Raising one eyebrow, he said, "Aren't you going to get cold like that?" he said. Shrugging my shoulders, I said, "The house is warm; I'm not cold," I said, starting my breakfast. He had prepared a variety of foods, my hardworking husband. "Do you like our home, my love? If there's any furniture you don't like, we can change it. I wanted to buy all this with you, but you know the situation didn't allow it." As he spoke, he was stroking my cheek. "Are you in love with me?" I said with my mouth full. While he was expecting a different answer from me, he was looking at me with surprised eyes at my question. He had said "my very beautiful." I wanted to hear if he was in love with me. The hand stroking my cheek stopped. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "I'm in love with you, since the first time I saw you. You bewitch me," moving closer. My heart had been pounding wildly since yesterday. A butterfly was going crazy inside me, flying between my stomach and my heart. Everything around us blurred, and only we remained, on clouds, as Sarp kissed me passionately. ****** We were sitting on the couch in our garden with a Bosphorus view, hugging each other. In front of us was a pool, and our not-too-large garden amidst greenery. I had completely relaxed in Sarp's arms. I felt very peaceful. "Sarp, I really like the house. It's very beautiful. So peaceful. Just the two of us like this," I said, snuggling closer to the blanket over us and Sarp. "I'm glad you like it," he said, holding me tightly. "Let's go on a honeymoon, my love. Wherever you want. I didn't want to arrange it without asking you." "This is our honeymoon already, my love. I don't want to leave Istanbul for now. My mother has recovered; I want to see her. Besides, the weather has cooled down; we can go next summer."
"Whatever you want, my Ceyda. If you don't want to go now, we won't. Whenever you want, I'll take you to warm places. But you've gotten so relaxed; get up and pay some attention to your husband," he said, squeezing my waist where he held it. I straightened up and, to get back at him for what he did to me in the morning, gave a small bite to his neck and started running. Since he didn't expect such a move from me, he couldn't catch me. I was running, and he was after me. My laughter echoed through the house. He was no less than me in this. ****** We had shut ourselves in the house for a full week. A week away from everyone and everything. I was calling my family and friends frequently. My mother Melek had recovered now. Once, when we were talking on the phone, both of us were overcome with violent crying. My dear mother, I should go see her tomorrow. Even though Sarp wanted us to live in our new house, I wanted to live with Sarp's family. Okay, the week had been wonderful, but a large family was even better. Of course, that's what I thought for now. Time would tell how we would get along with his family. In the car, I was dancing to lively music, as much as the seatbelt allowed. Occasionally, I sang the lyrics out loud. Sarp turned and smiled at me slyly. "You're still a child. I really like these moods of yours. You sweet child," he said. "Actually, I'm not that old. If it weren't for your coercion, I would never have gotten married at this age." "Having found such a beautiful girl, would I let her go? Of course, it had to end at the marriage office. You said you hated me, remember? I told you the greatest loves start with hate. And you said you'd rather stay home than marry me. Do you still hate me?" I paused first.
"You had messed with my psychology back then. You were holding me by force. How many days did you keep me in the mountain house? As if that wasn't enough, you then kidnapped me to the shack and then to Bitlis." He started laughing mockingly. "You're happy with your situation now. Thanks to me, you avoided staying home," he said. "Don't mock me," I said, also smiling. After a while, I remembered the bag full of jewelry in the back seat. "What are we going to do with the jewelry?" I said, pointing back with my hand. "You can do whatever you want with them." "So I'm very rich?" "Yes, you're very rich." "Sarp, you've been in such a good mood for the past week. You're calm, understanding. You won't go back to your old self, right?" "What was my old self like?" he said, turning his eyes from the road to me. "You can get angry suddenly. That really scares me. You know I didn't have the chance to get to know you before marriage. I wasn't ready for marriage yet. So many things changed in my life in a short time. From now on, I'll be living with you and your family in the same house. I don't know your family either." My unease was reflected in my voice. I needed to share my concerns with him. After all, I was starting a new life. "We don't know what kind of life awaits us from now on, but I want to be sure about how you will treat me," I said.
Looking at me affectionately, he reached out his right hand and stroked my cheek. "I understand your concerns, my beauty. Don't worry, I'll do my best not to upset you. If my family or anyone else tries to upset you, they'll find me against them. As for my anger," he paused, took a deep breath. "I admit, sometimes I can't control my anger. When it comes to you, I can't help it. I'll try to be calmer from now on, my dear wife." When we arrived at the Soykan family's house, the guards opened the garden gate for us. Before we could enter, a black car stopped abruptly in front of us. Before I could understand what was happening, Sarp took the gun from his waist under his jacket. "What the hell?" he said, getting out of the car. "Stay here, Ceyda," he said. As the guards started surrounding the car in front of us, three men got out of the opposite car. Fear that something would happen to Sarp made me get out of the car. I couldn't just sit here. I had taken a step or two when I heard someone call "Sister-in-law!" from behind me. Aytaç said, "Sister-in-law, you go inside." At Sarp's shout, I turned forward again. "Who the hell are you? What gives you the courage to block my car?" He had pressed his gun to the man's head. Another man put the large black wreath he was holding on the ground. "Brother, we're just following orders. Ekrem abi sends his greetings. He told me to deliver his message," said the man Sarp had the gun to. "He was very sorry he couldn't come to your wedding. He sent this wreath to congratulate you." "Tell that bastard Ekrem that if he shows his face, my first job will be to kill him. Now get out of here. If I see you in front of me again, I'll bury you along with Ekrem."
As Sarp's voice echoed, I was frozen in place with fear. As he kicked the large black wreath violently and shouted, someone grabbed my arm. I first looked at the hand holding my arm, then at his face. "Come on, sister-in-law, let's go inside," said Sibel. As we entered the garden, Aylin Hanım was waiting for us in the garden. "Welcome to your home, my daughter," she said, forcing a smile. It was clear she was also tense from the situation at the gate. We went into the house together. As we went into the living room and sat down, Sarp's voice could be heard. He wasn't shouting, but his anger was evident from his voice. "That coward Ekrem wouldn't dare this alone. What does he mean by blocking the car my wife is in? He will account for this. Let's see who gives him this courage. That bastard even sent a black wreath." "Sarp, calm down. The girl is already scared. We'll find out what his purpose was." This was Aytaç talking to Sarp. "What purpose could he have? He's trying to intimidate us, that's all. I'll gouge out his eyes." Hearing this last part, I tensed even more. Sarp entered through the door, and we made eye contact. I don't know what expression was on my face, but when he looked at me, he took a deep breath and smiled. Without taking his eyes off me, he said to Aytaç, "Tell the men to get our suitcases from the car and put them in our room." He came and sat next to me. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close. "Relax, there's no problem, everything is fine, my beauty," he said, kissing my hair. "Son, what's happening?" said Aylin Hanım. Turning to his mother, he said, "It's nothing, Mom, just some insolent person, it's not important."
Sibel said, "Brother, you brought your dramas with you as soon as you arrived. I was so scared," getting up and sitting on the other side of Sarp. As she hugged her brother, he also put his other arm around Sibel. "Don't you worry about it, my beauty," he said, kissing Sibel's head too. "Mom, how are you? How was the house without me for a week?" said Sarp. "Well, I'm so glad you're back, son. The house was too quiet without you. Now I have my daughter-in-law too; no one could be happier than me." "You should thank your daughter-in-law. I said let's stay in our new house, but your daughter-in-law insisted on living with her mother-in-law," Sarp smiled, looking at me. When he smiled like that, all the worry I had felt earlier disappeared. I smiled too. After watching my smile for a while, he turned back to his mother. "It seems you missed me a lot, Aylin Sultan," he said, removing his arms from us and standing up. He hugged and kissed his mother tightly. Sibel had also hugged me, smiling. "Ceyda, should I show you around the house?" said Sibel joyfully. I turned my gaze to Sarp. He smiled and nodded. "Don't tire my wife too much, Sibel," he said. "Okay, brother, don't worry, I won't eat your wife," she said, linking arms with me. "Shall we start the tour from the garden? What do you say?" Smiling, I said, "Okay." Arm in arm, we went out to the back garden. "I wanted you to clear your head a bit. I know what happened at the gate affected you." She was right; walking in the garden would do me good. I remembered the first day I saw Sibel.
"Do you remember the first day we met?" I said as we walked in the garden. "You had a very cute white cat in your arms. I was in a bad state that day because of your brother. Otherwise, I would have liked to pet that cute cat. You both looked so sweet." "Thank you, sweetie." "Yes, you looked bad. You were very scared. Before I could understand what was happening, my brother took you away. It turned out he had kidnapped you. Look, my beautiful sister-in-law, don't let my brother walk all over you. You are very good, calm; my brother is a difficult person. If you want to deal with him, you can't let him push you around. You have to stand your ground when necessary. Of course, I'll be on your side too. Oh, I'm so glad you came; I thought you were going to stay in that house permanently." Sibel's energy was very high. Apparently, I wouldn't be bored in this house at all. "Thank you for your advice, my dear Sibel, but your brother has changed a lot in the past week. He was kinder than ever," I said. "Oh, of course he would be kind; you just got married, sister-in-law." "Could you not call me sister-in-law? I think we're the same age?" "Yes, I'm twenty too," said Sibel. "I was born on September 2nd. And you?" "I was born on August 28th," I said. "Imagine, from now on we can celebrate our birthdays together," her voice was chirpy. There was a large pool in the garden. This place was bigger than my father's house. Beyond one part of the garden was a wooded area. When we reached the area where my wedding had been, I felt happiness inside me. Everything had been so beautiful. And in the end, my mother coming to her senses, getting help from the staff, and coming here had made everything even better. My dear mother was well now." I needed to tell Sarp I wanted to see my mother tomorrow. "My dear Ceyda, what are you thinking about? Seeing this place reminded you of your wedding, didn't it? Your face is smiling."
"Uh-huh," I said. "Everything was so beautiful." "You love my brother now, don't you?" "Yes, even though we started off badly, I fell in love with him over time," I said. Laughing heartily, she said, "Oh, that's so beautiful. Come on, let me show you the garage; the cats' nest is over there too. You know, I can't really bring them into the house; my mother would kill me." There were two large structures side by side in the garden: one was an outbuilding, and the other was a garage. The guards used the outbuilding. The cats' nests were there too. Sibel showed me the cats and gave me the white cat I had seen that day in her arms. "Look, this is the princess you saw that day. These are her siblings. Unlike her siblings, she's white as snow, so I named her Princess. There are four siblings. Their mother and father are here too. They're not here right now. They probably went for a walk alone." I petted and stroked Princess. She sniffed my hands to get to know me. Her siblings were two yellow and one spotted. When we entered the garage, I saw how big it was inside. It was full of luxury cars. I looked at the cars with great admiration. "Are all these cars yours? They're so beautiful," I said. Even though I got my driver's license two years ago, I couldn't even afford a clunker by saving up. My father Yusuf's pension and my salary from the cafe barely supported us. "Yes, most of them are your husband's cars. That white princess you see is mine," she said, pointing with her finger. Apparently, her car was also named princess. "You can ask your husband to give you one of his cars or buy you a new one. Do you have a license?"
"Yes, I got it two years ago, but I couldn't afford a car. Besides, I need to practice; I'd have trouble driving in traffic." "I can teach you. Come on, get in," she said, opening her car door. "No, Sarp wouldn't allow this." "Who needs permission? Come on, get in." I looked around. Even if security opened the gate, Sarp would be very angry with us. "Don't think about it so much, come on, I'm waiting for you." Hesitantly, as soon as I got in, Sibel started the car. "Fasten your seatbelt, sister-in-law, we're going." As we left the garage and headed towards the garden gate, the guards noticed us and started moving. But Sibel didn't stop. As we quickly approached the gate, she stuck her arm out the window and shouted, "Open the gate!" waving her hand. Although the guards hesitated for a moment, realizing Sibel wouldn't stop, they opened the gate. As we left through the gate and moved away from the house, I said, "Sibel, your brother will be very angry; we've caused trouble. Let's go back." Normally, I wasn't a cowardly person, but Sarp was unpredictable. Since I met him, I had turned into such a timid, cowardly, crybaby person. "Don't stress yourself out so much; we're not prisoners, my dear. We have the right to have fun too," she said. She laughed as if screaming. When I turned my head back, a black car that I guessed contained guards was following us. Sibel's constant laughter made me laugh involuntarily too. After a while, when we turned at the intersection, there was a forest on the left side of the road and the sea on the right. Thank God we weren't in city traffic, or we could have had an accident with Sibel's speed. The guards were still following us. For a while, we looked at each other and laughed. Apparently, adrenaline was good sometimes. Our laughter faded when we saw the black car stopped in the middle of the road a bit ahead. Sibel started to slow down.
"Oh no, now we're screwed," she said. And she stopped a short distance from the car. As Sarp got out of the car and walked quickly towards us, Sibel said, "Ceyda, he's coming. Should we get out and run into the forest until his nerves calm down?" "Don't be silly, I tried that a lot; he caught me every time," I said. As Sibel looked at me in surprise, we jumped at a sound and turned forward. Sarp had placed his clenched fists on the hood of the car and was looking at us with a frown. "Get out," he said. As I got out of the car, my heart was pounding wildly. Sarp and I made eye contact. I couldn't look into his darkened coffee-colored eyes for more than two seconds. "What were you trying to do?" His tone wasn't shouting, but it was beating. If he had shouted, we probably wouldn't have been so scared. He turned his gaze to Sibel. "Didn't you see what happened this morning? What possessed you to do such a thing? Couldn't you have told me if you wanted to go out?" "Don't take it out on Sibel; she didn't do anything wrong," I said. He suddenly turned to me. "You don't talk, my beautiful wife. I would expect such behavior from Sibel, but from you..." He started walking towards me. "I thought you wouldn't act without my permission." He stopped when our faces were almost touching. I couldn't understand his emotions. That sweet man from the past week had returned to his old self. "Brother, sister-in-law isn't at fault. I forced her. I wanted to take a ride with my princess. Besides, sister-in-law has a license but no car. I was going to let her practice with mine..." "Enough," said Sarp. "Get in the car."
As Sibel got into her car. "Not that one," said Sarp, pointing with his head to his own car. One of the guards from behind us, whom I hadn't noticed arriving, got into Sibel's car while we got into Sarp's car in the back seat. As Sarp started the car, Sibel was poking me to sit in the front seat. When we got home, we entered first, with Sarp behind us. Seeing us, Aylin Hanım said, "Girls, you scared me so much!" Her worry was evident. "Can you talk to my brother? We were just going for a drive and coming back," said Sibel. Sarp caught up with us, grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards the stairs. Sibel was shouting after us. "Brother, don't be angry with sister-in-law; I forced her." Apparently, Sarp's anger hadn't subsided. What was he going to do? Would he shout at me? Oh, how wrong I had been about this man changing. As soon as we entered a room upstairs, he pulled me close and hugged me. When his lips met mine, all the bad thoughts in my mind disappeared. Before pulling away, he rested his forehead against mine. "You scared me so much, my Ceyda. From now on, let me know when you leave the house. You saw what happened this morning. There are reckless people around us. I didn't want to hurt you." "Who were they?" I asked curiously. "Unnecessary people who are jealous of my successful business," he said, taking a deep breath. "Don't worry about these things," he said, picking me up and smiling. ******
Dinner was ready. We had sat at the table; the staff had made very delicious food. It smelled wonderful. I was very hungry. My father-in-law, Aslan Bey, had just arrived from the company. He looked at me with a friendly attitude and said, "How are you, my daughter Ceyda? Are you well?" "I'm well, sir. How are you?" "I'm well too. From now on, call me Dad, my daughter. In my eyes, you're like Sibel," he said affectionately. "I want you to call me Dad, and Aylin Mom." I smiled and nodded. And I looked at Aylin Hanım with the same expression. Sibel, sitting next to me, poked my arm. "Did my brother hit you or something? You've been in the room for hours and didn't come out. Was he very angry with you?" she said. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I looked at Sarp sitting across from me. He was grinning at me. Even though Sibel was speaking quietly, he had heard. Looking at her brother and then at me, Sibel said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot you're newlyweds." His mother and father must have heard what the tactless Sibel said. I brought my hand to my burning cheek and pressed it. I continued eating my dinner without lifting my head. After dinner, while drinking our tea in the living room, we had long conversations. I really liked Sarp's family. Until our last conversation. "Sarp, will we go see my family tomorrow?" I said. Before Sarp could answer, his father answered me.
"I don't want you to go to that house, my daughter Ceyda." "What do you mean?" I said, asking in surprise. The others were looking at Aslan Bey as if they didn't understand either, just like me. "You know, no matter how much we've fixed things for you, the person who killed my father and caused my mother's death is still living in that house." I couldn't say anything. Everything had fallen into place. The two families had made peace; Sarp and his father had brought my mother to me. From Aslan Bey's perspective, he was right. But it couldn't be like this. They couldn't separate me from the family I had just reunited with.