The Price of Pride

Chapter 35

"Kemal abi? What are you doing?" Reyhan calls to him, confused by his actions. She struggles against his hold, turning to look at Emine and Murat. "Anne? Baba? What's going on here?"

"Don't you get it? These people aren't your parents. They care nothing about you," Kemal spits out. "You're just a means to an end. They're using you to steal the holding from your real family."

"It's not what you think, Kemal," Murat says, trying to de-escalate the situation. "There's more going on here than you know. Let's all just calm down. Let my daughter go and we can discuss this."

"I'm not leaving my niece here with you people. And you're not getting my family's company. There's nothing else to talk about."

Kemal pulls at Reyhan again, but she gets away from his hold.

"Stop this! Kemal abi, what are you doing?" Reyhan cries, rubbing her arms where he had previously held her.

"Kızım, these people ..."

"No, Kemal abi. These people are my family too," she interrupts him. "All they're trying to do is help Emir. What makes you think they're trying to use me to hurt him?"

"Help him? More like help themselves to his company," Kemal scoffs. "Reyhan, you obviously can't see it, but they are using you. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"I have no interest in your company, Kemal," Murat sighs in frustration.

"Good. Because you're not getting it. I called an emergency meeting with the board in the morning. Your little tricks won't work. Your power play has been squashed. I have Hikmet's power of attorney and I'll be in charge in the meantime."

"This isn't a power play," Murat tries to explain.

"Enough!" Emine says, stepping between the men. "Both of you just stop. We don't have time for this. Kemal, I don't know where you're getting your information from, but it's all wrong."

Reyhan lets out a groan and all eyes turn to her.

"I'm fine," she says to let them know she's all okay. "I'm just annoyed. Because I think I know where he's getting his information from. There could only be one source ... Cavidan hanım."

Realization comes to Emine and Murat as well and they nod in agreement.

"Listen, Kemal abi. It really isn't what you think," Reyhan tells him. Then she proceeds to explain what's been happening, letting Murat take over once they get to his part in this whole thing.

"I was just trying to force Cavidan's hand," Murat confesses. "Since she was the one who called off the investigation of Emir's disappearance, I figured she knew where he was. We wanted that information, so I took away her power, money, and security in order to give her incentive to tell us where to find Emir."

Kemal is still dubious, but he's at least listening. Knowing what he knows about Cavidan, this ridiculous story actually doesn't sound quite so ridiculous. What actually is the most ridiculous is how he jumped on a plane, leaving Hikmet at his clinic all alone, and flew back to Istanbul just on Cavidan's word alone. He should have known better. He does know better, in fact. Cavidan can't be trusted. He just panicked and let her get to him.

"So let me see if I have this correct ... Cemre kidnaps Emir from your vacation in Izmir. She somehow manages to get him to a hospital in Greece where he's currently being held as a patient there and she's pretending to be his wife. And this whole thing was made possible because Cavidan also spoke with the hospital staff to verify Cemre's story. Then she lied to the police and told them Emir left on his own."