Chapter 10 / Part One Habbab The room was ready for the two of us, Melek walked in front of me and her skin was illuminated by the light from the fireplace in this place. My hands slid down her body and I hugged her from behind. "Come here." I took her hand and walked to her side. "I want you Melek, more than you know; this feeling is going to die the day there is not a single star in the whole firmament." My lips took possession of hers, I could feel her heart racing and so was mine. I loved this woman and there was no doubt about it, she was the only one who made me feel this way, a single touch of hers was capable of awakening the most unknown feelings I possessed inside me. Even if that went against my principles, against the expectations of my grandmother and family. Me? In love with an Erdoğan, my grandmother was going to kill me. "Habbab." She twitched when I kissed her neck and let go of a silly giggle. "What are you doing?" "Easy." I looked at her and she was blushing,

Chapter 10 / Part Three The next morning I feel Melek start to move, she is going to wake up at any moment. I stand up and start looking for all my clothes, I get dressed with complete naturalness. The night before I was talking to my grandmother, she told me that the best way to leave this cabin, was to throw Melek out of my life, is through indifference. I must be indifferent to her, to the night we spent, and to the whole wedding thing. I'm about to break her heart. She has woken up, I can tell by the froufrou of the sheets. "Do we have to leave so quickly?" she asks me, standing to get her own clothes. "It's too early, though I'm glad we're leaving, I'm anxious to get to know our new home." There is no home, not for her, I'll leave and she'll stay here, what she does after that, my grandmother said it's not my problem. Still, I'll make sure she stays safe, I'm going to save her again, she just has to wait a little bit. "Tell me one thing, do your aunt and cousin live with you?

Chapter 11 / Part TwoI hear the footsteps of someone approaching me, I dry my tears and try to put on the best stoic expression I have. It's a woman, walking past me, straight to another grave. I stand up and decide it's time to leave. Outside the cemetery there is a water fountain, I drink some and also wash my face, as I wet my hands, my wedding ring falls into the marble and I decide to leave it there, I don't need it.I am walking to my car, which has magically appeared in the parking lot when a woman stops me."Sir, you've left your ring." She grabs it and runs over to me, taking my hand and leaving it in my open palm. "If you lose it, your wife would kill you, try to take care of it.""Yes, of course, thank you." My wife must be suffering the consequences of my actions, right about now.I keep the ring inside my pocket, I guess it's not going anywhere for now. It's going to have to stay by my side for a season, right where I don't want it, because it's a constant reminder of al

Chapter 12Habbab"We can't go in there just like that, Habbab," Erdem shouts at me as I cross the street in the direction of the Erdoğan's house."We're not going in the door, Erdem. The house next door has been uninhabited for years, we can go up through the roof straight to the Erdoğan's rooftop.""What if someone sees us, have you lost your mind?""Erdem, I just need to know if Melek is there, analyze the situation so I can act, so I can take her out. Are you with me or not?"I watch as he shakes his head and looks frustrated, but finally agrees to help me. It's not the first time I've climbed on that roof, I used to do it from time to time so I could make sure no one hurt Melek. I didn't trust her with her family.I know how to get in through the back of the abandoned house, an elderly couple used to live there and when they passed away the land was left to their son, who only uses the house for vacations. We climb the stairs to the rooftop which is a couple of meters on top of t

Chapter 13 Melek I open my eyes due to a strong cough that causes my whole body to shake uncontrollably, I turn to one side of my body and spit out all the water that burns my throat. It takes a few considerable minutes before I can breathe normally again. I sit down on what appears to be wet grass and focus on the person in front of me, the one who has pulled me out of the river... It's Habbab, the traitor, the liar, the asshole. When I left home I was sure Esat was going to kill me, instead, he was offering me a way out, we were going to go far away from the city, until Habbab, the villain of my story, appeared again. "Why, why do you keep showing up like a fucking nightmare?" I yell angrily at him. "I'm not going to let you die, Melek, neither by your own hand nor by your cousin's, from now on I'm going to protect you." "You're going to protect me?" I spit at him full of sarcasm and pain. "Don't be ridiculous Habbab, the only thing I need protection from is you, and the damage