Chapter 4

Merv entered his room once again, using the files as a flimsy pretext to breach his solitude. Her eyes landed on the papers before she handed them over to him to sign hastily. His gaze lingered on her coldly, while her eyes settled brazenly upon the prominent wedding ring on his finger. Although she noticed the burning envy in her eyes, he ignored her completely; Merv meant nothing to him, and all he wanted was for her to disappear from his sight immediately.

"Congratulations on your marriage," she said curtly.

He grew weary of receiving repetitive justifications and congratulations; how many times had he heard the exact same phrase today? His sudden marriage had sparked everyone's astonishment and surprise.

"Honestly, I didn't expect your sudden marriage... especially since you didn't have a known girlfriend."

He found no need to be surprised by her familiarity with the details of his personal life; what on earth could his romantic life possibly mean to this woman?

"It just happened..." he replied tersely. How was he supposed to justify what had transpired to her? He himself was still stunned by the speed of his marriage! He had found himself dragged to the marriage altar for the sake of his son, so it was only natural that he shared their astonishment.

"Your wife is truly lucky to have managed to trap a man like you into her web so quickly..."

Ethan furrowed his brow once more; he failed to grasp what she was driving at with her words.

"...Don't look at me like that.. we were all stunned! And I'm not lying when I say we are dying with anticipation to see your wife. What kind of perfection and beauty does the woman possess who made you slip a wedding ring on her finger with such simplicity? Don't be angry with us, everyone here used to hold you in awe and was afraid to get close to you."

Ethan sighed heavily and oppressively. What was the secret behind this collective insistence on imagining his wife as a woman of flawless traits and breathtaking beauty? He had never done a single thing to give them such an impression.

"You may leave, Miss Merv."

She felt a slight humiliation upon being dismissed in such a polite manner, so she bowed her head in shame with tears welling up in her reddened face, and left the room with quick, flustered steps.

---

He floored his car to maximum speed, taking the route back home. After a short journey through the congested roads, he finally managed to reach the door of his apartment, took the elevator, and pressed the 16th floor button. Despite his early departure from work, fatigue was gnawing at his muscles savagely; his body had been withering at an unusual speed lately.

The elevator stopped on the sixteenth floor, and he stepped out with heavy footsteps toward the apartment door. He pulled his key from his pocket and opened it, and as soon as the door swung open, the blaring noise of loud music greeting him and almost deafening his ears, causing him to furrow his brows in shock and disapproval. Were they throwing a loud party at home without his knowledge? The closer he moved toward the living room, the more deafening the music's roar became. Who on earth was listening to music at such a lunatic volume?

When he reached the threshold of the living room, he froze in place with astonishment; Meral was dancing in sync to the tunes of folk music, and right in front of her, his son Deniz was mimicking her movements playfully. The two of them hadn't noticed his presence due to being completely absorbed.

"Deniz, look like this..."

Deniz was spinning around in circles, shaking his shoulders childishly, trying to catch Meral's attention and trace her steps. Ethan couldn't help his amazement; he had never seen Deniz laugh and play in this manner before.

He had always believed his son to be a silent and reclusive child, and though he knew Meral's arrival had made him more sociable and talkative, he never imagined it would reach this extent. Meral was stepping backward gracefully while swaying her waist, completely unbothered by what was happening around her.

At that moment, Deniz turned around and saw him standing at the doorway, causing him to freeze in shock and immediately stop dancing. Consequently, Meral turned around as well, since she had her back to the door and was moving backward, failing to notice his presence prior to that.

Meral collided with a solid body, startled out of her wits in fright, and her feet staggered from the unexpected surprise. However, the strong arms that wrapped around her waist and pulled her against his chest saved her from falling to the ground. Her body trembled violently as she felt the arms encircling her and the solid chest she was leaning against. Despite a full year passing since their marriage, every touch of closeness between them set her heartbeat racing wildly.

She pulled away from his chest, turning her head back toward him; Ethan stared at her with expressionless, hollow eyes.

"You're back early..." she said in a voice trembling from heavy panting, as she had exhausted herself dancing fiercely a moment ago. Ethan nodded his head, then reached out and grabbed the remote control to completely shut off the music.

"Daddy! Meral and I were playing!"

Ethan furrowed his brow in annoyance and turned sharply toward his son: "Haven't I told you repeatedly to address her as 'Mommy'?!"

Deniz's eyes welled with tears, not expecting this sudden harshness from his father. His lips trembled, bracing to cry, so he scampered away with a light jog toward his room to hide his heartbreak, for he could not bear crying in front of his father, nor did he ever understand the reason for this abrupt anger; hadn't he said it many times before?!

"Why did you snap at him like that? He would have gotten used to it over time, you broke his heart!" He glared at her with a burning look of anger: "I don't consult you, Meral, on how I deal with my son! Do not ever interfere in what doesn't concern you between him and me!"

Meral received her share of his fury's hurricane; she swallowed her humiliation in silence and cast her gaze downward to hide her brokenness. Why did he always insist on venting the venom of his anger upon the two of them? Ethan paid her no mind, instead throwing his body onto the sofa and letting his head loll backward. His head was throbbing with excruciating pain, even though he had taken pain-relieving pills that proved utterly useless. He began massaging his forehead with his fingers, hoping a little rubbing might extinguish these fires.

Suddenly, he felt soft fingers caressing his forehead, causing him to open his eyes, which he had forgotten when he closed them. Meral stood at her full height before him, tending to him with utmost care. She cautiously reached out her delicate fingers to rest on his temples and began massaging them with infinite gentleness.

He didn't utter a peep, instead letting his hands relax on his lap and closing his eyes once more; often enough, those touches of Meral were like magic in dispelling his headaches. Gradually, his drug-numbed body surrendered to the sway of comforting slumber.

Watching him drift into a deep sleep, Meral planted a light, tender kiss on his cheek, then headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner, ignoring the burning sensation on her lips from the impact of the kiss. She adored that feeling and savored it. She was madly in love with her husband with a deep love that words failed to describe, and whenever she asked herself why, she found no satisfying answer; she loved him without reasons or conditions. Her little heart had fallen captive to that reticent husband who concealed his emotions coldly, yet he had settled in the depths of her soul.

She drained the rice-boiling water and began washing the grains carefully, having placed the stuffed eggplant in the oven beforehand.

As soon as the water boiled, she lowered the heat and placed the pot cautiously, adding a bit of vegetable oil along with drops of butter to guarantee a rich flavor. The moment the fats melted, she emptied the drained rice and began tossing it lightly with a balanced pinch of salt, pouring hot water over it until it was completely covered.

She secured the pot's lid and lowered the flame to its minimum setting to allow the rice to cook at a gentle pace.

Since the salad was already prepared in advance, nothing remained for her except to wait for the rice to finish cooking. She opened the oven door and pulled out the hot stuffed vegetable tray, and as soon as the rice finished cooking, she turned off the heat beneath it.

After arranging the dining table meticulously, all that was left for her to do was wake the two sleeping men. She stepped with timid footsteps toward Ethan and began shaking him gently, but he was insistent on clinging to sleep as though taking refuge in it. She didn't want to disturb him, but her heart wouldn't let her leave him hungry; hunger was a cruel torture she had tasted well and knew its bitterness.

When she shook him for the second time, she hadn't expected Ethan to pull her toward him forcefully and make her collapse so that she lay right beside him! She tried to rise in a panic, but he wrapped his arms around her tightly and corralled her, burying his face in her neck. He reinforced his grip with his hands as though fearing she would escape.

Meral realized full well that Ethan wouldn't have done that had he been in his right mind; the relationship between them had remained cold and dry despite their ongoing marriage. He never addressed her with warm words, and she excused that as his stern nature, for not everyone was skilled at expressing their emotions.

As Ethan gradually began to rouse, he inhaled the scent of his beloved flower to instantly realize that the figure clinging to his nose was none other than Meral. He recognized that fragrance which he intensely detested no matter how deep his slumber. As if stung by a scorpion, he pushed her away violently and drew back sharply.

He grew furious with himself upon finding himself clinging to her, taking advantage of his sleep. As for Meral, to hide the revealing blush on her face, she fled toward Deniz's room like someone escaping a consuming fire. Her face was burning like embers, and her heart was pounding like war drums in her chest. She entered the room to calm her nerves a bit; Deniz was still awake, playing quietly with his toys. He was a handsome child with blond hair and hazel eyes that added to his charm, and that little dimple on his cheek bestowed an overwhelming innocence upon him. Every single time she looked at Deniz, she envisioned Ethan in his childhood.

"Deniz, dinner is ready," she said in a whispered tone so as not to startle him.

Deniz turned calmly and looked toward her: "I'm coming, Meral."

Meral didn't wait for him to follow, instead making her way back to the living room, and Deniz joined her a few moments later. The three of them sat at the table, and Meral began serving the dishes, while Ethan kept watching their every movement with unblinking eyes, which stirred the girl's anxiety and made her sweat with bashfulness. Why was he fixing his eyes on her like that?

Once she had poured the soup for everyone, she finally managed to sit in her place and catch her breath. Deniz was eating his meal with relish, while Meral couldn't manage to swallow a single bite, awaiting the moment Ethan would stop staring at her so she could eat comfortably.

As for Ethan, he hadn't diverted his eyes from her since the moment he sat down. He looked mockingly at her trembling hands and reddened face, flushed with shyness from his penetrating gaze. She was a girl trembling with sheer terror just because he prolonged his gaze at her. How on earth, then, would she behave at tomorrow's banquet?!

He pitied her condition when he realized she wouldn't be able to eat as long as she remained under the weight of his gaze, so he shifted his eyes away from her and took a spoonful of soup.

Midway through the meal, he dropped his bombshell, plunging the table into a deathly silence:

"Tomorrow evening, we will all attend the company's business dinner... and Meral, you are among those attending."

A heavy adventure awaited them tomorrow; his colleagues at work would see the wife they only knew as a name. Although he wasn't fond of this idea, he realized there was no escaping it someday. She was his lawful wife, and since he had no intention of divorcing her, there was no need to hide forever. He understood from the twitching of Meral's features just how much dread had possessed her, for she sat like a rigid stone statue out of sheer astonishment.

Fear surged within her eyes and swept over her, but he knew she couldn't hide forever; how long would she remain secluded away from the world? He clenched his spoon with suppressed anger. This unwelcome invitation had disrupted the peace of their stable life.