Two Worlds Apart 🥀

Chapter 3: Misunderstanding

In the grand party hall, their mother Jemre's eyes scanned the crowd worriedly. "Zeynep, have you seen your sister? Where is Beyza?" Zeynap's mouth opened but no words came out. Alihan stiffened beside Jemre, instantly sensing something was amiss. "Zeynap?" Cemre's voice rose in concern. "Where is Beyza?" Zeynap finally found her voice. "Abla...Abla isn't here, Mom." Cemre asked in disbelief, "What do you mean? Did you check everywhere properly?" Zeynep stammered, "Her things...her belongings are not there in her room." A hush fell over those closest as they overheard the exchange. Halil, Alihan's father, strode forward, his expression thunderous.
"What is this? Are we here to make fools of ourselves? We prepared this alliance out of respect for my dearest, departed friend. We came here to this town for this alliance and now you all are bringing disgrace to his name." Alihan stepped forward, placing a calming hand on his father's arm. "Dad, please relax." Halil shouted, "What relax! Alihan, she ran away intentionally. This is how she was. My friend's blood can't result in such a disgraceful act this must be the result of someone's bad parenting (pointing towards Cemre)." Zeynep came forward to confront Halil but Cemre held her arm to stop her.

Then, Hakan came breathing heavily said, "Beyza is nowhere to be seen. I checked everywhere." Halil said, " I knew it." As the dramatic scene continued Zeynep's phone rang and she went to a quieter place. Alihan noticed her and decided to follow her. As Zeynep was on a phone call, Alihan overheard Zeynep saying, "I will handle everything at home, You take care." and she cuts the call. Alihan's expressions turned serious and he thought that Zeynep was talking to Beyza and was aware of beyza's plan to run away from the engagement. Because she was the one seen on the corridor around beyza's room. As Alihan left the corner, Zeynap continued on the call, "Rüya, do leave a text when you reach home okay?"

The heavy silence in the living room was suffocating. Alihan's grandmother, Esma Hanim, shook her head slowly, her wrinkled face etched with disappointment. "Oh no...Halil. It's unbelievable that Kemal's own daughter could do something like this." Haleel's jaw tightened as he paced the length of the room angrily. "It was my mistake to trust Cemre in the first place. I know love marriages are cursed." He spat out the words like venom. "Children born of such selfish unions are defiant, ungrateful." He continued, "That Cemre married my friend Kerem for love, and see what became of him? Gone before his time. And now his daughter brings nothing but disgrace to his name."

Esma Hanim's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It's breaking my heart that in all this my poor boy...his heart is broken once again." At those words, all eyes turned to Alihan, standing rigid in the corner. His handsome face was taut with tension with barely restrained hurt and anger. Without a word, he turned and started for the stairs. Haleel opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. Alihan's grandmother watched him go, shoulders slumped. "Halil..." She called out brokenly. "My child is heartbroken again."

Now, The lecture hall was hushed as Alihan paced in front of the chalkboard, working through a complex physics equation. Zeynap kept her head down, trying to focus on taking diligent notes despite the weight of Alihan's presence. Suddenly, Alihan stopped and whirled to face the class. His piercing gaze landed squarely on Zeynap. "You. Girl. Get up here." Zeynap's head snapped up in surprise. "M me, sir?" He said, "Yes, you. Come solve this problem." Flustered, Zeynap rose and made her way to the front of the hall, very aware of her classmates' eyes tracking her movement. When she reached the board, she turned apprehensive eyes to Alihan. "Sir, I...I joined the semester late. I'm still trying to catch up with the syllabus." Alihan's jaw ticked. "No more excuses, Miss Yilmaz. Solve it."

A few students snickered at her obvious discomfort. Heat flooded Zeynap's cheeks as she stared helplessly at the tangle of equations and numbers. Of course she couldn't solve this advanced problem - he knew that. Alihan in his mind said, "This was the punishment, miss Yilmaz for your precious role in Beyza's disappearance." Zeynep's stomach twisted with guilt and shame. When she made no move to pick up the chalk, Alihan scoffed loudly. "Alright then, sit down. We all know you're good for nothing."

Zeynap flinched as if struck, then turned and scurried back to her seat amid mocking laughter from her peers. She stared fixedly at her notes, using her hair as a curtain to hide the burn of humiliated tears in her eyes. Alihan watched her impassively for a cold moment before continuing his lecture. His heart still ached from Beyza's betrayal - and he would make sure Zeynap paid for her part in it.

Zeynep hurried out of the lecture hall as soon as it was over, desperate to escape the judgmental stares and snickers of her classmates. Hot tears of shame and embarrassment burned her eyes.
Pressing her back against the cool stone wall, Zeynap slid to the floor and buried her face in her hands said, "How could he have treated me so cruelly in front of everyone? I understand he must be hurting after abla left." But she had no idea that Alihan was blaming her for it.
"Zeynap?" The soft voice made her start. She looked up with red-rimmed eyes to see Ruya,
"Oh Rüya..." Zeynep swiped at her damp cheeks, attempting to compose herself. Ruya crouched down and put a comforting arm around Zeynap's shoulders. "That was so unfair of Professor Alihan. You don't deserve to be treated that way." Zeynap said, "It's not his fault. He is hurting. After abla left, that is normal for him to feel this way. Now, he's just taking that anger on me." Rüya was quiet for a moment then she said, "I think.. Beyza abla made her own choice. But taking anger on you for her deeds isn't justified at all. We should talk to him now." Zeynep stopped her and said, "No Rüya, if he thinks that taking his anger on me could help his wounds then let him do that. After some time he will realise that he was wrong." Rüya said, "So till then are you gonna get humiliated in his class. No Zeynap.." Zeynap said, "I will try hard in my studies.. you will see his anger will melt away very soon."

Zeynap and Rüya strolled down the sunlit corridor, chatting animatedly after their last class. Zeynep felt light, happy to put Alihan's humiliation behind her for a while in her friend's company.

"Miss Yilmaz." The curt voice made Zeynap's cheerful mood plummet. She and Ceyda turned to see Alihan approaching. Zeynep replied, "Yes, sir?"

Alihan said, "Miss Yilmaz, we're holding a quiz competition tomorrow for the physics program. I need some students to volunteer with preparations." Zeynap's brows knit slightly, but she nodded. "Okay, sir. I will do that." A faint smile played around Alihan's lips, but it held no warmth. "Excellent. You can handle decorating the auditorium and preparing any other arrangements needed." Zeynep replied, "I yes, sir. I'll take care of it."

Rüya shot Zeynep a confused look, clearly picking up on the strangeness of singling her out for such duties. But Zeynap avoided her friend's gaze. Alihan said, "Good." Zeynep watched him go, feeling deeply unsettled. "Zeynap?" Rüya's concerned voice dragged her from her thoughts. She said, "What was that about? Is he punishing you by giving you all that extra work?" Zeynep could only shrug helplessly, feeling about ten times more stressed already. "I don't know, but I can't say no to him."