The Price of Pride

Chapter 5

Emir waits until they get home to finally let loose on his father. The doctors had told them that sleep was the best medicine for Reyhan at the moment. So they left Melike at the hospital with her while they came home to rest for a bit. Emir didn't want to leave her, but he knew he had things to say to his father that would be best not said in public.

"What are you trying to do, Baba?" Emir asks after a long awkward minute of them just staring at each other. "How could you say those things to her?"

"She deserves to know that truth about how you feel. About what you had planned."

"And how do you know how I feel? Or what I have planned?"

Emir can see his father getting slightly nervous at the calm facade Emir is putting on. And honestly, a facade is all it is. Emir is furious. He's livid. He can hardly see past his anger at how his father's words and actions affected Reyhan. But he can't be the same spoiled hot headed kid he's always been. If he wants his father to believe he's sincere about being a good husband to Reyhan, he needs to stay calm and make him understand he's changed.

"I spoke with the lawyer. He said you've drawn up several sets of divorce papers," Hikmet explains. "That tells me you have no intention of staying married to Reyhan. Not to mention the information the doctor gave you about that special clinic in Ankara that deals with Reyhan's illness. What do you plan on doing? Shipping her hundreds of miles away to get her out of your hair? I'm not going to let you just throw her away like that. She deserves better."

"He's right," Emir admits. "I've tried to divorce Reyhan on more than one occasion."

Emir is grateful now she was so stubborn and so determined to stay married to him. He's grateful she fought so hard, no matter the reason: a vow, an oath, a solemn promise made to a dying man. None of that matters. What matters now is that he has a chance to be with her and he's not going to blow it this time.

"And the clinic will help her to heal. The doctor feels she'll get a better, more specialized treatment there."

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Hikmet says, shaking his head at his son. "I can't believe you ..."

"Oh, I know," Emir interrupts him. "You can't believe anything good about me. You heard about the divorce papers. But did you hear about how she refused them? Tore them up in my face? And the most recent set? I tore those up myself weeks ago. I have no plans to divorce my wife, Baba."

"But ..." Hikmet sputters.

"And the clinic is the best place to help her. But I'm not just sending her, Baba. Reyhan and I are going to discuss it as an option. And if she agrees, then I'm going with her. We'll be moving to Ankara for as long as it takes for her to get well."

Emir just sighs and walks over to his father, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Baba. I know this marriage got off on the wrong foot. But Reyhan and I have gotten to know each other a little better and this is what we both want. We just want the time and space to figure this thing out on our own. That can't happen here."

"Emir, I .... I don't know what to say," his father shrugs. "I saw red when I heard about how you had been treating her. I couldn't believe you were the son that I had raised."

"I was falling for her and didn't want to face that fact," Emir easily admits. He finds that the more he accepts his feelings, the easier it is to say it out loud. "I could see no reason for her to want to be married to me, and she wouldn't tell me anything. No matter how much I asked. Her oath to you kept her silent."

So frustratingly silent. He can recall every single time he asked her. And every time she said nothing. It's crazy how the one thing his father wanted from this marriage was almost ruined because of the one very big condition he put on it. But Emir is beyond being angry at his father. Hikmet may have set it all in motion giving them an impossible obstacle to overcome, but Emir can only blame himself for his own actions. Now that he knows what he's up against, he has a better chance at getting what he wants. And all he wants right now is for Reyhan to be happy.