Chapter 3

Suddenly, the sound of the office door opening echoed.

"What are you doing?"

Ethan and Merve, the secretary who had suddenly barged into the room, were startled, but he quickly regained his composure. He had been so deeply engrossed in the files that he hadn't heard her knock on the door. Recently, he had been struggling with a lack of concentration; once he immersed himself in something, he would completely isolate himself from his surroundings and turn a deaf ear to everyone around him.

"Working," he replied in a tone dripping with extreme fatigue.

His entire life was confined between the walls of work and home. He didn't see himself any differently than the elderly men bowed by age, though perhaps those old men were more social than he was! Despite that, he wasn't genuinely bothered by this situation.

Ethan was surprised when Merve approached from behind and began massaging his shoulders; her fingers suddenly reached out to press against his temples, pressing her body closer to him than necessary. Her piercing perfume caught his attention, igniting a burning sensation in his nose; by nature, he abhorred sharp, sugary scents.

"You're exhausting yourself more than you should, you need to rest a little."

He brushed away her massaging hand instantly and let out a congested sigh. Her sudden approach without prior permission annoyed him; by nature, he completely rejected anyone touching him like that. Even Miral didn't dare approach him to this extent!

"If you leave me alone, I'll be able to work," he said with utter clarity, extinguishing any hope and demanding she leave. Dealing with the last thing Merve wanted or could tolerate at this moment was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Fine, I'm leaving. But you know there's a work dinner tomorrow evening, right? All employees are invited along with their families, and the boss is insisting that you attend with your family," she said as she left the place.

Ethan sprang to his feet to put her in her place. Where did this sudden dinner come from? And worse yet was the condition of bringing families; where on earth did this foolishness come from?

"I already told you that my wife doesn't like such gatherings, and she won't be able to attend," he said in a dry, decisive tone. He didn't want to drag Miral into this atmosphere at all.

Merve opened her arms in disapproval and sarcasm: "I have nothing to do with it! The boss insisted heavily and will never back down from his decision. Besides, she won't lose anything if she attends, and don't worry, nobody is going to eat your wife!" She uttered those words while feeling a deep jealousy burning in her chest.

Her eyes were still fixated on Ethan as always, and she had received a shattering shock when he surprised everyone by suddenly announcing his marriage. She had thought the death of his first wife would give her a golden opportunity to get closer to him, but she was surprised by the news before she even dared to confess her feelings to him. A woman she had never heard of before had snatched the man she wished for!

How she was burning with curiosity to know the identity of that woman who managed to marry Ethan and slip into his heart. How did she manage to trap him? And who knows what crooked methods she used to drag him into the marriage cage?

Ethan was not a man with wandering eyes; had he been, he would have noticed how infatuated she was with him and how close she tried to get. She had tried to seduce him over and over again, but he would fend her off with cruel coldness, refusing to grant her the slightest opportunity and pushing her away rudely. She walked out of the room wringing her freezing hands in pure frustration, her fingers almost trembling with rage.

As soon as Merve left, Ethan dropped to his knees as if pulling his hair out in despair. He was certain of one thing: the impossibility of bringing Miral to this dinner; doing so would invite a scandal! Especially since no one knew anything about Miral; they only knew he was married, without a single soul ever seeing her face.

Yet on the other hand, he was incapable of disobeying his boss; this job and its perks meant a lot to him, and he couldn't risk losing them.

His work was comfortable with excellent financial returns, in addition to holding a high-level position in this prestigious institution for many years. There was no substitute for this high-market-value company.

Realizing the impossibility of completing his work with that chaos storming his head, he grabbed his jacket and decided to leave work immediately.

Returning home seemed like the most suitable idea now; he wouldn't be able to accomplish a single letter while in such a distracted mood. Work pressures weren't intense during this period, and his boss was tolerant with him due to complete satisfaction with his competence, so he was entirely confident his early departure wouldn't raise any issues.

Fate hadn't left a single dark corner in his twenty-six years of life without dragging him through it, and here he was today facing a family crisis requiring him to cross this night with minimal losses if he wanted safety and peace of mind. However, bringing Miral would complicate matters greatly; she was a woman accustomed to isolation from society and completely ignorant of how to behave in public gatherings.

---

One of the hidden reasons behind his desire to hide her was her physical appearance; since no one had ever seen Miral before, everyone assumed his wife was an extraordinarily beautiful woman with a prestigious career path. At first, he didn't realize they thought this way, but once his friends' comments poured in, the reality unfolded before him in all its cruelty, and he fully grasped the mistaken impression formed in their minds.

5 months ago:

Ethan finally yielded to his friends' persistence and decided to fulfill their invitation to visit a bar after a long hiatus. He was the only one among them officially married, although Selim was engaged yet couldn't escape the night out, while Cenk and Tolga skillfully dragged them there.

"Oh god! If Gonul knew I was Here, she'd skin me alive! Listen, Tolga, if my fiancée breaks off our engagement because of this night, I'm going to plant this ring somewhere the sun doesn't shine!"

Ethan and Cenk laughed mockingly at Selim's anxious, muffled complaints. Selim was truly terrified of his fiancée Gonul, whom he loved to infatuation, unable to bear the thought of losing her—just as Burak had once been passionately devoted to Selin.

"Don't be scared, man! And if you get caught, pin the whole blame on me... or say Ethan insisted on us coming!"

Selim nodded in agreement; Ethan was the only friend whose presence didn't provoke Gonul's jealousy or displeasure. While she loved Ethan and commanded his respect, she harbored intense resentment toward both Cenk and Tolga.

"By pure luck, Ethan, nobody sees your face anymore except those visiting the Kaaba! You've completely turned into a homebody!"

Ethan ignored Tolga's sarcastic comment, while Cenk dropped his hand onto Tolga's shoulder with a wink: "He's newlywed, my friend, how do you expect him to leave his beautiful wife to spend the night with us?" Tolga nodded in agreement with a faded smile, while Selim gazed at them with a dim smile carrying sorrow. Ethan had returned to commit to another after the great tragedy of Selin's departure.

"True, man, we haven't feasted our eyes on your wife at all! You didn't even invite us to your wedding; suddenly you just told us and that's it: 'I'm married!'"

Ethan shifted uncomfortably in his seat; discussing Miral was the last thing he wanted to delve into. Cenk sipped from his cup and turned to him with curiosity:

"I admit I never expected you to tie the knot with someone else after Selin. Your wife must possess enough allure and beauty to make you fall into her traps this fast. And the more you try to keep her under wraps, the more curious we get to know her."

Ethan furrowed his brows, annoyed by his words; he hadn't realized they were weaving such illusions in their imaginations, as he hadn't uttered a single word concerning Miral in front of them.

"Miral isn't how you imagine at all," he said in a calm, reserved tone. He thought they perhaps imagined her as a fashion model or something similar, even though he hadn't prepared them for such notions.

"Come on, man! Fine, we won't say anything that angers you about your wife... no need for all this reservation!"

His friends burst out laughing merrily, while he stared at them with a blank expression devoid of expression. He tried to object for a moment, but they weren't in a mood to listen. Let them think whatever they wanted; the truth would reveal itself before them once they saw her soon.