Tears of love

03 | 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬

Oguz returned home after hours of work, knowing he was lucky to still be alive. He considered himself lucky every day he came back home. He wasn't dead.

His family's house was small with two floors. His mother was in the kitchen, cooking, while his father came from the living room. Oguz took off his shoes, putting some slippers on, while he heard his mother coming from the kitchen.

"When are you leaving?" his father asked.

"At the end of the month."

Nehir had to find the right time to leave. She couldn't just disappear from her house. Not if they wanted to have a chance of getting away. Metin wouldn't forgive them if he learned about their plan. He wouldn't even care that Nehir was his own daughter.

"You should leave," his father said.

Oguz knew it was weird. His father hadn't waited to say those words. He would have expected the conversation to turn to his plans during dinner. Instead, they were talking in the hall. Something had to be wrong.

"I'll leave with Nehir soon enough. We just need a little time."

Nehir had agreed to marry him. She had agreed to run away with him. It was beyond Oguz's wildest dreams. He had never even hoped she would do that. Nehir was an Akpinar. She was rich. She had everything she could ever want. She even studied at Cambridge, while Oguz barely managed to finish high school. He had no idea what she saw in him.

However, he knew why he loved her. Nehir wasn't like her family. She was kind and funny. She was a trustworthy person. She didn't see herself as someone more important than anyone else just because of her family. She was... Well, she was Nehir. And he loved her for that.

"You have to give up on this love, my son."

His father's words made Oguz blink. What? Why? Everything was going according to the plan. They were so close to escaping this nightmare that both were living. So close to being free. Why turn back now?

"Why?"

"It's too dangerous."

Metin would kill him, eventually. Even if he never learned about him and Nehir, Metin wouldn't spare Oguz. Everyone who worked for him ended up dead. Or worse. In prison for a crime they did not commit. His life and his parents' were at the mercy of a monster.

After Oguz had left, Metin could turn on his parents. Still, he knew nothing would happen to them. That was the deal he had made. Oguz would leave, and Hakan would make sure his family was fine. He was sure Nehir's brother suspected what was between the two. But Hakan wasn't his father. Maybe after Metin died, he and Nehir could come back.

"I know what I put myself into, and I won't give up now," Oguz added.

He could live anywhere. He could start over. His life would be perfect if Nehir was with him. Nothing else would matter. They would find a place to live. They would manage somehow. As long as Nehir was by his side, there was nothing Oguz couldn't do.

"This isn't only about Metin anymore," his father said.

"It was never about Metin," Oguz argued.

"She'll be engaged in a few days! She has been promised to Davut Uçar's son. You do not want to mess with them."

"What?"

Nehir was engaged? She never mentioned it. To Davut Uçar's son. The Uçars were involved? It didn't matter. Nothing changed.

"Everything changed," Ali said, as if reading his son's thoughts. "Do you know what Davut would do to you if he learned you want to run away with his son's bride? What they'll do to her? You both will wish you were dead!"

"They don't know," Oguz argued. "They can't know. If Metin didn't figure it out, why do you think they will?"

"Oguz," his mother said. "Please, my son. We do not want to see you hurt. Give up on this love."

Oguz shaked his head. "I can't."

He could see the tears in his mother's eyes and the look from his father's. They didn't believe he could do it. They didn't have any remaining hope in him. His own parents looked at him as if they were already selecting a place for him in the graveyard.

Maybe he would die. Maybe both him and Nehir would die. But at least they'll know they tried their best. At least they wouldn't have done nothing.

"Ask her," Fatma said. "Ask Nehir if she still wants to run away, knowing who will be on your trail. Ask her if she's willing to risk it all."

If Metin would learn about them, he would kill them both. He wouldn't care that Nehir was his daughter. He would kill her for running away.

"Fine," Oguz said and took his phone from his pocket, calling Nehir.

She answered only after a few moments.

"Do you still want to do this?" he asked. Did she still want to run, even though she would soon be engaged to the son of a very dangerous man?

"Yes," Nehir answered, her voice firm.

"I don't think we'll manage before the engagement," Oguz said.

Metin wouldn't want Nehir to go missing and embarrass him to the Uçars. They don't have any chance of running away before Nehir would be engaged to Davut Uçar's son. And that would make them running away Davut's problem too. That would involve the Uçars.

"Then after," Nehir said.

"We'll find a way," Oguz assured her. "I love you," he added.

"I love you too," Nehir said, her voice just a whisper.

Oguz hung up and then turned to his parents. "We'll manage. They won't expect Nehir to run after the engagement. They'll think she accepted her fate."

His father sighed. "We'll see, my son. We'll see."