A Necessary Journey

No Schemes, No Lies

I'm a little behind on the Remix series, but I'll get there soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd upload an update to this one. 

Defne felt Yasemin's hands on her shoulders, shaking her, until she came back to the room. The haze dissipated and she shook her head to clear the remaining fog. "I'm sorry... say that again?"

Yasemin took a deep breath. "Defne, there was no baby. The girl was never pregnant."

"But, Omer and Sonia... they..."

Yasemin nodded uncomfortably. "It looks as though that was arranged, that woman was paid to make sure that he... well... you know what he did."

"I don't understand." Defne got up and ran her hand through her hair. "None of this makes sense. Omer was in Rome... why would someone do this? Who would do this?" Yasemin looked away, silent and Defne frowned. "Yasemin? Who did this?"

"Deniz Tranba did this, Defne."

"What? Why, how?"

Nothing made sense, how could someone arrange for this? How could Sonia pretend that she was pregnant? How could Tranba be so evil?

"I don't know how, Sinan didn't know. All I know is that the pregnancy was faked, that Deniz owned up to being behind the entire scheme and that Omer isn't doing well." Defne fell back onto the bed beside Yasemin, trying to digest everything she'd just learned. Taking Defne's hands in her own, Yasemin pressed them lightly. "Look, I have been the one championing you to get on with your life, to leave Omer behind... but knowing that he was fooled into this, that he maybe wasn't making that decision on his own, I don't know what to tell you."

"You came all the way to Bordeaux, just to tell me this?"

"Defne, this wasn't something I could tell you on the phone. And whatever you decide to do, I'll support you all the way. I'm packed and ready to fly back to Istanbul, or Madrid, wherever you decide you need to be."

"Omer's not doing well? What did Sinan say?"

Yasemin sighed. "He told me it was something I needed to see with my own eyes. He's not been back to work since the truth came out, he's drinking heavily, he won't see anyone. Sukru gives Sinan updates when he can, but it's just a matter of time before Sukru needs to find another job."

Defne's heart ached. Omer had been lied to again, her lie had hurt him, but this one had destroyed them both. Who the hell was Tranba to be playing with their lives like this? Why was he so intent on having a hold over her life? If Sinan was worried enough about Omer to share his fears with his estranged wife, then Omer must be in a bad way.

But Defne had moved on with her life, she'd resigned herself to living without love. Omer had hurt her, no matter the reason behind it, he'd taken another woman to bed, days after their wedding. How could she overcome that? Would she have left if there hadn't been a child involved? To be honest, she no longer knew. In the few short months she'd been in Madrid, she felt as though she'd grown, people believed in her talent, and not just because they were in love with her. Maybe what Omer saw in her went beyond his feelings for her, maybe he genuinely had seen something special in her, an ability to design. It was only in Madrid that she had started to believe that. 

Letting out a shaky breath, she buried her face in her hands and allowed herself to sob. That simple little life she'd led in the neighbourhood had been permanently deleted when Neriman Iplicki offered her the opportunity of a lifetime. Since then, she'd never been able to unpick the deception and intrigue that was woven throughout her life.

Yasemin pulled her to her shoulder and hugged her against her body. "There's a flight to Istanbul in ninety minutes. Are we going to be on it?"

Were they going to be on it? That was the question.