The Price of Pride

Chapter 31

"Cemre? How are you feeling, Kızım?"

I force a smile for my mother. She's come to pick me up from this hospital she's had me in for the past three months. She said she was worried about me. That I was obsessed with Emir. That I needed help. But the only help I ever needed was help getting Emir. Somehow I didn't think the doctors would be able to solve that little problem for me. They don't understand. My mother doesn't understand. Nobody understands. I thought Cavidan teyze understood me. But she was only using me.

My mother may have put me here, but I have Emine hanım to thank for this whole experience. Who knew she had gotten so close to that stupid Reyhan? Who knew that dumb party was all because of Reyhan? It still burns me to think about what a fool I made of myself. Cavidan teyze and I walked around for weeks spreading gossip about Reyhan, trying to make her look like the pathetic little nobody that she is. When we got to the party, all we had to do was add the finishing touches and that girl would have gladly gone running back to her little village. But no. Imagine my surprise when I went to get security, that those very same guards threw ME out of the party. Not Reyhan ... me! Imagine my surprise at discovering Reyhan actually lived in that mansion. A house bigger than my house and the Tarhun mansion combined. How was that fair?

After that party, I cut ties with Cavidan teyze. I had plans and they'd be best carried out on my own. I left her right there on the curb in front of the house after we'd both been thrown out. After they had taken Reyhan to the hospital. And even that couldn't go right for me. Reyhan and the baby turned out to be fine. She gets to go back home to that fabulous mansion and continue to live the life I'm supposed to be living with Emir. The baby she's carrying is supposed to be mine. Emir is supposed to be mine. Again, how is any of this fair?

Emine hanım had come by after Reyhan went home from the hospital. By then, my mother had heard what happened at the party, so she made me hide and pretend I wasn't at home. But I heard everything they talked about. My heart dropped when Emine hanım told my mother every little thing I had ever done to Reyhan. Well, not everything. Even Reyhan doesn't know everything I had ever done to her. She's lucky I didn't do more. Her snitching isn't a surprise. What is a surprise is Emine hanım thinking my mother would believe Reyhan's claims. Doesn't she know I went my whole life manipulating nearly everyone around me, especially my mother? I almost laugh out loud. But then it suddenly isn't funny anymore. My heart stops when she pulls out her phone and sends something to my mother. My mother pulls it up on her own phone and goes absolutely white at what she sees. It looks like she's almost going to faint, but she doesn't. I found out later that it was a video Suna apparently had taken that day I locked Reyhan in the freezer. That sneaky little imp recorded the whole thing. There was no talking my way out of that one.

So that's how I ended up in the hospital. My mother didn't give me much of a choice. Emine hanım didn't give her much of a choice either. She threatened to send the video to the police if my mother didn't "handle" me. That was the word she used. Handle. Again, I almost laugh out loud. No one can handle me.

"I'm fine," I tell my mother, injecting utter calm and serenity in my voice. "I know I may have fought coming here, but you were right as usual. This was just what I needed."

Yes. Despite my doubts, the hospital stay did help. For the first time in a long time, my mind was at rest. It was at peace. There was silence and I was able to think. And for each and every one of the past 92 days, I did nothing but think about Emir. And plan how I was going to get him for good. This time, no one will see me coming. No one will know what happened until it's too late.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emir wakes on a near scream. He sits up in the bed and takes a deep breath after checking to see if he has woken Reyhan. Fortunately, she managed to sleep through his nightmare, he notices with relief. Sleep is so precious to her these days. The baby has grown a lot in three months and as a result, so has Reyhan's stomach. He sometimes wonders how she manages that belly. Sleeping isn't so much the problem for her. Getting comfortable enough to get to sleep is the issue she faces. But once she's asleep, she tends to sleep like the dead.