5] The New Arrangement.

They sat in the living room, each staring at the other. Cedes looked at her husband with daggers in her eyes, and Sedar scowled at Ezekiel as Ezekiel waited for one of them to at least give him an answer. The atmosphere was sickeningly tense. 

"Well?"  Ezekiel was the first to break the silence that drifted between them. He felt torn as he gazed at Cedes, his hand brushing across his face. 

"You are married?" He said through gritted teeth, shaking his head with disappointment.

She shot Sedar a nasty look when she saw that he was staring at her, and then she flipped him the bird and began watching Ezekiel again.

"I was going to tell you about it. And then I discovered the letter. It just didn't seem as though it was all that important anymore."  She spoke with shame-coating her words

"Doesn't explain. Why you're suddenly married, kid." 

"I.. I LOVE HIM!!...." She spluttered out, her gaze fixed on Sedar. 

She lied to him out of desperation not to disappoint him any further. She'd rather he be angry with her for hastily entering a marriage out of love than acknowledge the truth that she awoke in a stranger's bed, married to him, with no memory of the previous night.

Sedar looked at her with a look of amusement on his face. He rose from the sofa and approached her and sat next to her. Taking her hand in his. She attempted to remove her hand from his discreetly, but he clutched it tightly, smirking down at her hand as he caressed her knuckles with his thumb.

"Evet, (yes) indeed, it was love at first sight." He touched her cheek with his fingertips, running his thumb along her jawline. 

She lowered her gaze to Ezekiel. 

"I'm sorry I went behind your back, but it's done."

She turned to her husband scowling at him.

"Baby, I told you I'd call you when the time came for you to introduce yourself." She tried her best to say it in a loving tone. 

"Evet, (yes) but two days without you, Askim,  was long enough." He winked at her, loving the little show they were displaying. 

"I promise to take good care of her and we will visit you every three months," He told Ezekiel, meeting his scowl. 

She yanked her hand away from his and stood up, frowning at him.

"Honey..... We never got around to finalising our plans." Her gaze turned rapidly to Ezekiel.

"Would you mind giving us a minute or two?" Panicking, she begged him to give them some privacy so she can put a stop to this little charade they are performing in front of him.

He sat there for a heartbeat, staring at her, before finally rising from his chair and exiting the room silently. He appeared infuriated, and she despised herself for causing him to be that way. 

Once she thought he was out of earshot, she glared at Sedar. 

"What the fuck was all that about?" In a defensive posture, she crossed her arms.

Standing, He reached into his breast pocket and handed her the new contract. She yanked it out of his grasp and grimaced at him.

"So you admit that you have finally come to your senses and you have presented me with the divorce papers?" With a glint in her eye, she opened the envelope.

"Come to my senses, evet. Divorcing you, hayir!." (No!) He sat gracefully back on the sofa, watching her as she read the paper. 

She tossed them on the coffee table, giggling at his audacity in believing he could buy her.

"I'm not for sale." She walked over to the window and wiped her eyes. 

What was it about her that made men think they could simply throw money at her and she would do as they pleased or remain silent?

'HAD A GREAT NIGHT, A PRINCESS WITHOUT A CROWN ALWAYS GETS PAID WHAT SHE'S WORTH!' 

For the rest of her life, she will always remember those words, printed on a piece of paper with money, that were left for her by a man without a face on her graduation night.

"Everyone has a price, Askim." (My love) He said seriously.

She flinched and, in slow motion, turned to face him.

 "Is that how you get what you want, by throwing money at the problem to make it disappear?" She questioned him, gritting her teeth.

She picked up the contract and carefully read it, gnawing on her cheek in deep thought. If he was willing to throw money at her, she was willing to bargain with him. If he was her get-out-of-jail-free card, she was going to use him. 

"I have a few things I'd like to include in the contract as well."

He scoffed, admiring her fortitude of grace in dealing with him.

"Be my guest, Askim." (My love)

"If I sign this contract now, I want you to transfer $350,000 tonight." She negotiated with him, picking up the pen.

"That's a lot of money." He arched his brow wondering why she urgently needed that much.

"Is that a yes or no?" She pushed. 

He sighed as he examined his watch. "Those were not the conditions." He started.

"$350,000 are my terms and I'm not backing down." She couldn't afford to back down. 

The initial first $250,000 stipulated in the contract would not suffice, and she required funds immediately. He rubbed his brow, displeased that she had considered the fact that she was aware she had the upper hand. Validating what he already knew about her.  

"However, if you immediately sign those documents, I will have the new funds agreed upon transferred within a couple of hours." He stated, accepting her terms.

She nodded her head and quickly signed her life away across the dotted lines before he changed his mind. She needed him more than he needed her, but she wouldn't admit it. 

"I want my own room and there will be no sex between us." Her voice turned husky

"Neh?" (What?) He chuckled, "Hayir, (no) We're going to have to share a room and a bed. In Turkey, we live in a single household with our family. That is not negotiable." He said sternly. 

"Okay, so you'll sleep on the floor then?" She arched her brow at him. 

He snarled, standing to his feet, he pulled her up off the sofa and towered over her as his eyes searched hers. 

"If I was to touch you would it really be that bad Askim?"(my love) He leaned closer and brushed his lips against hers. 

He was aware that he was affecting her; he could smell her arousal lingering in the air between them. A low growl vibrated from his chest, and he had to summon all the willpower he could muster to take a step away from her. He was attempting to prove to himself that she was playing hard to get, and it sparked something dark within him. She was his wife, and she now belonged to him. He was paying her a hefty amount of money and he could sleep with her if he wanted to. But he also knew he would never force her into it.

"No, I mean yes... Shit!" She suddenly felt flustered. 

He reached into his pocket and produced two rings. 

She stared at him, stunned, as he took her hand in his and slid the rings over her finger. Making their marriage official. She extended her hand, noting that the rings on her finger felt odd.

Then she raised her eyes to him and saw him attempting to seal their new arrangement with a kiss. She slapped him across the face, her face contemptuous, the slapping sound filling the room and resonating in his ears.

He growled at her, pinning her arms behind her back. "You may now kiss the bride." He said sarcastically as he claimed her lips once more, but this time he did it for pleasure as she struggled beneath him.