Chapter 31

                                    

                                          
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"You are lying, right? You are lying, right?!" Zeynep's full body started shaking. "LIAR! LIAR!" She stood up, starting to hit Emir with her fists. "My brother didn't die! HE DIDN'T! NO, NO, NO!"
Emir was taking every punch, saying nothing. He was trying to hold her still but it was in vain. She was out of herself.
"My brother... My God... My brother... AHHHHHH!" She suddenly yelled all crazily, looking around. She tried to run to the door. "I need to go to him."
"Zeynep!" He held her from the waist, but she was like a wild animal, she couldn't be tamed. "ZEYNEP!"
"LEAVE ME! LEAVE ME! MY BROTHER, I HAVE TO GO TO HIM! LET ME GO!"
"No, calm down! ZEYNEP!" She was moving uncontrollably in his arms, she even kicked him instinctively. She was not herself anymore. "BRING ME A TRANQUILIZER SHOT!" He yelled to the helper, keeping Zeynep close to him with huge force.
"LET ME GO, I HATE YOU! LET ME! YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!" She fell down to her knees, crying ever harder. 
"Shhh..." Emir hugged her close, leaving a kiss on her head as he did the shot in her upper arm all of a sudden.
Zeynep fainted in his arms, mumbling nonsense. Picking her up, he took her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed.
"Prepare some stuff for us quickly. You will stay with Poyraz, we have to go to İstanbul." He instructed the shocked helper, who nodded her head at him.
                          
About an hour later, Emir and Zeynep were on their way to İstanbul. She was literally still asleep from the shot, so he had placed her in the back seat. It was better like this. It was better if she was sleeping peacefully. Just a little bit more and she would cry her eyes out anyway. 
Arriving at their house, he took her into his arms and went inside. 
"Mr Emir." Efsane widened her eyes at the sight. 
"Take our things out of the trunk." He signaled her with his head, taking Zeynep upstairs. 
"Emir..." Her faint voice echoed, blinking her eyes a few times. "Where am I?" 
"At your house, don't talk." He shushed her, placing her on the bed. 
"Is this real? What you told me?" Her voice was pained, deeply hurt. 
"I wish it wasn't, believe me." He replied honestly, caressing her hair softly. 
"Will you take me to my mother?" She held his hand tightly, her eyes begging him. 
"I will, the time has come..." He sighed heavily, turning his head to the window. 
                          
"Mom!" Zeynep ran to a screaming Fehime. She was on her knees, screaming and crying about Kemal. 
"My son... Where are you, my son?! Where did you go, my Kemal?!" 
"Mom, mom!" Zeynep sat by her side, hugging her tightly. "Mommy..." They both burst into tears. 
Tarik was sitting in an armchair, staring at nothing. 
Hussein was the same, accepting condolences without even realizing why. They couldn't just believe it. 
Emir felt so uncomfortable with the sight, he didn't know what to do. He watched those people, how they were reacting... Is this how it feels like when you lose someone you love? 
His thoughts were interrupted when Zeynep started screaming to an unconscious Fehime. 
"Can you hear me?! Mother! Mom!" She was shaking her as Tarik went to help. 
"I'll bring the cologne." Tarık ran inside, coming back with a tiny vial. 
"I wish I died so I never had to live this day! Allah, help me! My Kemal!" Fehime cried, moving her head around nervously. 
"Mom..." Zeynep began. "My brother wouldn't want to see you like this." Her voice was at the edge of breaking. She caressed her mother's cheeks with both hands. "Think of Deniz, she has no one else but us! Don't do this! Stand strong for her." 
"My poor baby... Without a father or a mother... Who will console that baby?" 
Emir's eyes shot up at Fehime's words. Where's Deniz? 
"Where's Deniz? Who has her now?" He asked them. 
"Mom?" Zeynep touched Fehime's face. 
"She's with Leyla... Vildan is not even in a state to-" Fehime stated, sitting back. 
Tarık diluted a Xanax pill into a glass of water and gave it to her. 
"Zeynep." Emir called her, signaling her to follow him outside.
"What?" She crossed her arms, waiting for him to talk. 
"I want to take Deniz at our place." He told her confidently, like he has been thinking about it for a while. 
"Where did this come from now? I can't think about this, Emir." She sighed, running her hand into her hair. 
"You don't have to. I did already." He looked into her eyes in all seriousness. 
"So even in this situation, you will take advantage of my brother's death to get his daughter?" Zeynep shook her head at him, smiling sadly. 
"It has nothing to do with that, don't be ridiculous. Both of her parents died." He explained emphatically, indicating that he got hurt from her words. 
"So you suddenly care that my niece is an orphan or that she's the daughter of the woman you love? You can now keep her freely by your side, right?" 
"Mind your words, Zeynep. You are mourning and you don't know what you are saying." Emir warned her, pointing his index finger at her face. 
"Get out of here. Respect our pain and stay away from Deniz." She pushed his finger down, making her way back to the house and shutting the door in his face. 
He grimaced, raising his fist to hit the door but he regretted it at once, thinking that it wasn't the time about this now. Zeynep is not herself right now and she doesn't understand. Deniz will be better off with them two. That's how it should be. 
                          
"Where's Deniz?" He asked the second Leyla opened her house's door, fully dressed in black. 
"How dare you coming at my door in much an hour?! I lost my children!" She teared up, swallowing a lump in her throat. 
"Where's Deniz?" He repeated impatiently. 
"What do you care? She's not your concern!" Leyla proceeded to close the door. 
"I loved her like Kemal did!" 
"Good! But she's still not your daughter, you have a child already!" She snapped, managing to actually shut the door. 
"God damn it..." He cursed, slapping his palm against the threshold. 
There was one thing he had to do for now though, which could not be prolonged. He would deal later with Deniz anyway, but this thing couldn't wait. He had to do it. He had to find the courage to do it. One last time. 
                          
"Wifey... What happened to your face, huh?" Emir told to Nihan's lifeless body in the morgue. 
He fingers softly touched the side of her head. She not recognizable, her face was totally ruined. "Look what happened to you... I was keeping you protected all those years for you to die in a simple car accident." He smiled pitifully. 
"What a coincidence... When God took my mother, he gave me Nihan. Now he took me Nihan and gave me my mother. Life's so weird, do you agree?" He tried to held her hand. 
"I don't know if I can take back everything I did to you, but I can try to make amends. Deniz will be under my protection. You know I loved her like my own... If you were awake you would tell me to stay away from her, I know. But it's not in my hands... Nobody will take care of her like she deserves. Don't you worry... " Emir caressed her hair lovingly. "Sleep well." He left a kiss on her head, few tears running down his cheeks. 
"I want to see Kemal Soydere." He asked the paramedic waiting behind him. 
The guy covered Nihan's body and dragged her back in the freezer. Pulling another drawer, he brought Kemal's body out. 
"Uncover." Emir ordered the guy, blinking his eyes. 
There was Kemal with half his face ruined. The doctors told Emir that he died on the spot since a metal frame from his car was nailed into his chest. Nihan was barely alive at the accident scene but she eventually died on the way to the hospital. Her side of the car hit a stone wall. 
He didn't understand the exact circumstances of the accident but he would look into it for sure. Kemal wasn't a careless driver as much as he hated him. 
"Kemal, Kemal..." He took a good look at him from head to toe. "If someone told me you would end up like this two years ago, I would praise my luck... But now, something doesn't sit well with me... Were you that careless? I don't believe it." Emir walked back and forth, trying to think. "You didn't even fight to meet with your daughter again, you died on the spot... Something is fishy here, Mr Kemal... I will figure it out on my own." He nodded his head, sceptically. "However, don't worry about Deniz. She will be under my protection... Do you want to kill me if I come close to her? I bet. But there's nothing you can do now. She has no one better to count on than me... And it's not like she will forget about your existence, Zeynep will remind her of you anyway... Oh, and Zeynep is also in good hands." He bend over, like he wanted to whisper into his ear. "You were a great enemy, Kemal Soydere. Have a nice sleep." He touched his forehead, eyeing him for a few more seconds before leaving the room. 
                          
Later that night, Emir went to the Soyderes' house. Zeynep hasn't called him, she would probably stay there that night. 
He was waiting outside and decided to call her instead. He just wanted to make sure everything was okay. 
"How are you?" He asked her the moment she picked up. 
"How do you think?" Her voice sounded broken, like she had been crying. 
"Will you stay with your family tonight?"
"My mom is in a bad state, I can't leave her. Did you check on Poyraz? I didn't find the chance-"
"I did, I did. Don't worry about him. Be with your family. I'll come pick you up for the funeral." 
"Emir! Don't hang up... Are you okay?" 
"I've seen better days..." 
"I know you loved her... I didn't mean what I said about Deniz-" 
"Goodnight, Zeynep. I'll see you tomorrow." 
"Goodnight." 
                          
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This chapter was so difficult for me to write ☹️. Hope it isn't that bad, I tried to keep it as real as possible. 💔
                          
I didn't have the chance to thank you enough for your support, helping me reach 10k in less than two months of writing this story. İyi ki varsınız 🙏🌹