A MAN'S SORROW CUTS DEEPER

Because no one messes with family...

Bulut was furious. Watching his friends being taken away by the police and being unable to do anything about it made him feel useless. Hearing Deren cry out his name brought on a new sort of sharpness in his heart. One that he never knew existed before...

He was a calm man. He kept his emotions in check. He chose long ago to use his head rather than heart to solve issues. All that changed the day he came across a woman stuck ankle-deep in mud and he decided to lift her up and help her. How could he have known that this one act of kindness would turn his world around? He could not figure out what it was about this seemingly cold woman that caused his blood to rush to his head. She did not even have to speak. Her mere presence made him loose his cool. Whenever they worked together he made it seem he knew what he was thinking or saying, but in reality he could barely make out a sound sentence...

Bulut did not like to go back to his past. The past was the past, and he preferrred to leave it at that. He may have been a successful man. May have excelled at what he did. May have found affirmation and sense of accomplishment. But he did not. He did not know it at the time, but he was searching for something more than a big house and a fast car. Something more than a designer suit and fake smiles of those pretending to care only to want something in return. And he finally found that something when he found Mihriban, Deniz, and the others. He found family. One that made him feel wanted, needed, and loved. They worked together. But that sense of belonging went so much deeper than that.

Looking at his friends through the bars of a cell at the police station took all of his strength not to explode. His anger simmered right at the surface even if he hid it well. This single moment gave him all the affirmation he needed that what he once considered a waste of time to become a lawyer actually proved to be useful. And he did not hesitate to put his suit back on and step back into his lawyer shoes. Then he saw Deren. She was speechless. The look on her face was worth all the hours he spent on becoming a lawyer. And he realized he might just as well enjoy the monumental advantage he held over her at this very moment. He let others out of the cells. But not her. She stood there with her arms open and eyes as big as a doe caught in the headlights. She hated to beg, but he would make her do just that. And he enjoyed every second of it. Until she realized the door was opened and she begged him for nothing...

His friends were grateful to him for bailing them out. Deniz thanked him wholeheartedly, for she knew how much putting on a suit again cost him. Ceycey was speachless and in shock over what happened, but Bulut could sense his gratitude.  Muzo could not make out a logical sentence, but that was all because of his concern over Ceycey. Only Deren seemed to hold back. But he sensed what she felt, and it pleased him more than her words would. Curiousity, gratitude, and bafflement were written on her face even if she did not want to admit it. He told her then that he had many hidden talents, and walked away with a head held high. But that feeling of accomplishment did not last long...

When they returned from the police station Deren had no problem whatsoever in letting him know how little his assistance with getting them out of jail meant. She looked at him with exasperation. She looked at him with disappoinment. And what she said rang so deep into Bulut's heart that he could not help but agree with her. He called himself a lawyer. He was one. One of business law background no less. And he did not for one minute think to protect Sanem's creams? Deren's words hit him deeper and deeper, for he realized that as much as Sanem was his friend, she also became his family. And he did nothing to protect her...

As Deren was laying it out on him regarding his missed accountability for his help with Sanem's creams, he saw Sanem and Can walking toward them. Sanem's face grew dim and sad. Her words of despair over the loss of ability to make her creams said it all. The pain and the shock over the fact that someone would dare to take her creams away from her left her hurt to the core. Bulut saw it and vowed he would not rest until whomever caused Sanem so much pain would be brought to justice. Because no one messed with his family...