Second Time's the Charm

Part 5

Dila stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, noting the harsh bruises on her body that were exposed under the unforgiving glare of sunlight. The physical pain paled in comparison to the emotional scars that were left behind, yet none of that mattered when Ferman had allowed her to talk to Naz for a few minutes. Seeing her precious sister's face had been a wonderful moment but then she remembered the stark fear in Naz's eyes, how shaken Sermin looked on facetime even though her stepmother had always been an unshakeable force, and it was a striking reminder of why Dila couldn't afford to wallow in agony. Her pain was nothing compared to what her sister was going through.

It had taken two weeks but thanks to one of Serdar's contacts, she was able to clone Kuzgun's phone and find a list of possible places where he'd stored Ferman's stolen merchandise. Ferman had been pleased with her information until it turned out only half the merchandise remained. The other half was nowhere to be found, and there was no information on Kuzgun's phone to indicate its location. As such, Ferman had extolled a heavy price for her failure.

She dropped her robe to the floor, wincing, as she stepped into the hot bath. In a few minutes she had to get ready for Seda and Kartal's wedding. She was going to be a witness, along with Kuzgun, and she was already dreading the thought of seeing him with Ferman next to her. A part of her had hoped Ferman wouldn't attend but he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see her squirm, or goad Kuzgun. At least she had a few minutes now, to herself, to just catch her breath and compose herself.

An hour later her hair and make-up were done. Her outfit, a shapeless yellow maxi dress that effectively covered her bruises from head to toe hung on the door. Anxious, she started getting dressed.

***

Dila felt Kuzgun's eyes on her throughout the entire ceremony. Seated across from each other, she tried to ignore him but it was impossible. While everyone else was watching the bride and groom, Kuzgun was watching her and she felt naked under the heat of his gaze. The dress she wore was meant to hide her but it seemed to have the opposite effect on Kuzgun, because the deep pools of his warm, brown eyes seemed to remove every layer of fabric slowly, languidly. She was spellbound by him, ready to give up everything, when Ferman entered the room from behind where Kuzgun was sitting and she suddenly remembered the reality of her situation. From then on, she kept her attention focused solely on Seda and Kartal.

***

Dila stood by herself, watching the celebration after the ceremony. Defne was dancing with Kartal and Seda. Aunt Meryem was in the opposite corner of the room while Kumru and Cihan were deep in conversation a few feet away. Even though she told herself not to, her eyes scanned the crowd for Kuzgun but he was nowhere to be found.

"Hello, wife."

She tensed immediately, feeling her skin crawl as Ferman joined her on the terrace.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked politely.

She turned to look at him. A complete monster who wore the mask of a concerned husband, that's who he was. "Of course."

"Your ex-husband couldn't keep his eyes off of you."

Fear ran down her spine. "I hadn't noticed."

"You shouldn't lie to me, Dila."

Feigning the touch of a gentle lover, his arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her close for a kiss. It took everything she had not to retch, to go through the motions of an embrace with him. He was playing the part of a loving husband and she didn't dare defy him. As he kissed her, her mind instantly slipped inside a bubble. In there it didn't matter if Ferman was beating her or raping her, she was protected, she was safe. Sometimes she was at the tree, staring up at the sky. Other times she was with her family at the beach. Every once in a while she even visualized the wooden cottage, with Kuzgun next to her. That's where she was right now, a haven carved out of her memories.