Untangling the Web

Chapter 19

At lunch the next day, Emir sits across from his mother and has to resist the urge to strangle her. But he would rather spend the rest of his life with his wife and their children. And not be in jail for matricide. But the woman is really pressing her luck.

"Now that I think about it, Nehir really isn't Tarhun material," she says, despite the scolding he gave her about calling the paparazzi to the mansion the other day.

"Anne! What did I just say?"

"Calm down, Emir. You said not to try to set you up anymore and I understand. That doesn't mean I can't introduce you to new people. You married that girl at the first word from your father. It's my turn to pick your wife."

"Anne," he warns again.

"Fine, fine. I'll leave it alone," she relents. "For now. Your child is going to need a mother. There's no way I'm going to let that peasant have any part in my grandchild's upbringing."

"You're unbelievable," he sighs, the frustration clear on his face to anyone looking. But Cavidan doesn't seem to notice. He signals the waiter for the check, now more sure than ever about what he has to do next. "Let's just go now."

Emir shouldn't be surprised at the number of women Cavidan stops to speak to on the way to the car. He shouldn't even be surprised by how many of them "coincidentally" have single daughters his age. Despite what he just said, his mother doesn't seem to be giving up on the shameless matchmaking. All he can do is grin and bear it until he gets her to the car. He breathes a sigh of relief when finally make it. He has to stop himself from slamming her car door after she gets inside.

Cavidan is scrolling through her Facebook feed on her phone when they pull away from the restaurant. So by the time Emir pulls up to the unfamiliar house, she is confused where they are.

"Reyhan is inside," is all Emir says by way of explanation. When he goes to open Cavidan's car door, he sees a smug smile on her face as she finally recognizes the place. "Not exactly the house I picked out. I take it you had something to do with this?"

Cavidan can't stop the full blown laughter as they walk to the door. But once they reach the door, she gets herself under control and grabs his arm, completely serious now.

"This is all she deserves." Cavidan stares defiantly at him, as if daring him to argue with her.

Little does she know, he completely agrees with what she said. The woman who will live in this house ... it really is all she deserves. Deep down, he wishes it didn't come down to this. But he sees now that he can't stop his mother. Or change her. He can't make her love or even respect Reyhan. All he can do is show her what place Reyhan has in his life. In his heart. Maybe one day she'll realize what she's given up. But Emir somehow doubts it. His mother is his mother. There's no changing her. So it's time now for him to change the situation. He can't live this way anymore.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hoş geldin," Reyhan greets.

When they step inside the house, Cavidan is almost disappointed to see that the place looks a lot nicer than she assumed it would. That little peasant must have worked overtime to make this place habitable and decent. Nice on the inside, but it's still a slum. Cavidan smiles again at the memory of how she made this come about.

It all happened when Emir had gone to Greece to take Hikmet to the clinic. Cavidan happened to intercept correspondence from the realtor about a selection of houses. A brief flash of anger had filled her mind at the thought of Emir putting that village girl into one of the nice homes the realtor found. But just as quickly, the anger had been replaced by mischief. And she ended up visiting the realtor in person to make a few changes.