Yours, truly

Prologue

For most, the day of their birth is a precious day that is to be celebrated around friends and family, gathered around a table, surrounded by loved ones, drinking, eating and laughing. It used to be so for Eda too once.

Another year, another birthday she didn't feel like celebrating just like she hadn't for the past 5 years. Though this day is supposed to bring joy, it brought her nothing else rather than heartbreak, pain and anger. Her arrival on this world wasn't something that actually made her happy or that she felt like celebrating, so just like any other day, that too would be a long and boring one, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Happy birthday sultanım" Efe joked as he turned on the lights of her pitch-black dark room, making her furrow her eyebrows and give him a death stare.

"Uff ya. Uff. I wanted to sleep. How many times do I have to tell you not to do this every year? I'm not a kid anymore" Eda whined annoyed as she covered her head with the blanket.

"Chill grumpy, I know your sleep is sacred, but come on! You can't keep doing this forever." Efe countered, taking her blanket off and opening the curtains of her room so that light would come in.

"Oh my god, you did not!!" Eda widened her eyes in surprise. "I hate you so much."

Efe chuckled as he stopped at her door. "I know you do. We're going out for drinks tonight."

"But..."

"No, don't interrupt me" Efe shot back. "Drinks, on me, tonight, end of discussion. Oh, one more thing, I'm driving you to the university today. Get ready, have a shower. You look like a crazy witch who just came from the mountains."

"Off" Eda fumed as he closed the door. As much as she hated Efe for that, she appreciated him a lot. Even though he was persistent on this topic on this very same day, every year, she knew he only wanted what was best for her and for her to be happy, something she hadn't been in a long time.

The day she turned 18, that very day which was supposed to be the most beautiful day of her life, she lost her parents. Her life changed forever. Her happiness faded in a blink of an eye. Like it never existed. Her beautiful smile disappeared from her face.

And it was all because of that ruthless, cold and heartless of a grandmother she had. The one she fought to break free from. And as if what she'd done to her parents wasn't enough, she had the audacity to try and control her life too.

Her aunt, Ayfer Akman, Efe's mother was not any better. She'd become Semiha's puppet, standing right next to her iron throne in Mardin, being one of the most powerful families there.

It's been five years since then... How could her consciousness be this calm after everything she'd done? Not only was she the reason for her own son's death, but she murdered part of Eda's soul too. She murdered her hopes, her dreams, her happiness. She murdered her smile, her innocence, her will.

And if it wasn't for Efe taking her in, treating her like a sister, Eda would never have made it to break free from Semiha's poisonous claws. And that's why she was indebted to him till the end of her life.

"Birthday breakfast"- Efe smiled when he saw Eda approach him. She gave him an ironic smile before taking her usual seat right next to him. "You'll never give up, will you?" she said as she took a slice of bread in her hands, cutting the corners of it off."

Efe chuckled at her and she raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "You expect me to treat you like a grown-up and then do this? You don't even eat your bread properly" he joked making her roll her eyes to the back of her head.

"Efe, you know, somedays I really feel like stabbing your eyeballs with this fork, scoop them with a spoon and then feed them to you." Eda smiled sarcastically, gesturing at the fork that she held in her hands.