Chapter Text
“You knew.”
Fadime’s voice was low, but every word cut through the room like a blade.
Iso went still.
“Fadime-”
“You knew,” she repeated, her eyes shining with anguish, “and you lied to me.”
His face tightened. “Just let me explain.”
“Explain?” A broken laugh escaped her. “Explain what, Iso? That Eleni is Adil’s daughter? That everyone else was allowed to know the truth before me? That you looked me in the eyes and said nothing?”
He stepped closer, panic flashing across his face. “It wasn’t like that.”
She stepped back.
The movement was small, but it stopped him cold.
“I opened my heart to you,” she said, her voice trembling now. “I told you I couldn’t bear secrets. I told you I needed honesty. And you still hid this from me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Fadime stared at him.
For a moment, neither of them breathed.
Then she laughed again, but this time there was no warmth in it. No life.
“Protect me?” she whispered.
Iso swallowed hard. “Canım, please-”
“No.” Her eyes hardened, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “You weren’t protecting me. You were protecting your family.”
The accusation landed between them, heavy and unforgiving.
Iso reached for her, desperate now, his hand closing around her waist as he pulled her gently toward him. “Please. Just listen to me.”
She pushed at his chest.
“Let go.”
“Fadime-”
“Let go of me.”
He released her immediately, as if the words had burned him.
She covered her mouth with one shaking hand, trying to hold herself together, but the tears kept coming. “You lied,” she said, shaking her head. “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
“But I did.” Her voice cracked. “I found out from someone else. Do you know what that felt like? To stand there and realise everyone knew I was the fool except me?”
“You were never a fool.”
“Don’t.” Her expression twisted with pain. “Don’t make this sweet. Don’t soften it. You made a choice, Iso. You chose silence. You chose them.”
His jaw clenched, but his eyes were wet. “I chose what I thought would hurt you least.”
“And who gave you that right?”
He had no answer.
The silence was worse than any lie.
Fadime wiped her face with the back of her hand, but more tears came. “Leave.”
Iso stared at her.
“No,” he said quietly. “Don’t do this. Don’t break us over this.”
Her face changed then. The softness disappeared. The woman who had loved him, trusted him, let him see every fragile part of her, seemed to retreat behind a wall he could not reach.
“Leave,” she said again. “I don’t want to see you.”
“Fadime, please.”
“Leave.”
He took a step toward her, and something inside her snapped.
“LEAVE!”
The scream tore through the room.
Iso lifted both hands, his own face crumpling. “Tamam,” he said, voice rough. “Tamam. I’m leaving.”
He walked to the door, each step slow, as though he was forcing himself through water. At the threshold, he stopped and turned back.
His mouth opened.
Maybe to apologise. Maybe to tell her he loved her. Maybe to make one last plea.
But Fadime shook her head.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Iso closed his eyes.
For one second, he looked like a man being split in two.
Then he left.
The door shut softly behind him.
Only then did Fadime break.
She slid down the wall, her legs giving way beneath her. Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face against them and sobbed until there was nothing left in her but the terrible ache of betrayal.
Outside, Iso stood on the other side of the door, his hand pressed flat against the wood.
He could still hear her crying.