INTRODUCTION
As I descended the stairs slowly and cautiously on my fingertips, my frozen fingers gripped the banister like a vise. I took and exhaled my breaths carefully, as if every drop of oxygen I exhaled was consuming me from within. Every second was precious to me, like a diamond. My time was running out. The house was too quiet and still. The night seemed to have imprisoned all its desolation within these walls.
The light sources illuminating the vast mansion were small yellow lamps mounted on the walls, adorned with gold trim, lending the mansion an antique feel.
I tried to be as quiet as possible as I descended the stairs, applying as little pressure as possible to my fingers.
The hem of my white nightgown trailed behind me, dragging across the brown steps illuminated by the light from the yellow lamps on the wall. The necklace dangling around my neck would rise with each movement, then strike my chest with a small thud before returning to its old place.
I could feel my whole body burning, even the sweat dripping down my cheeks.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I walked towards the mansion's exit door, shrouded in night. I had one last thing to do here. I looked into the hallway at the end of the stairs first; it reminded me of a dark vortex.
I turned around to ignore the memories flooding my mind and saw the kitchen across from the stairs. I remembered leaving the sliding door open. But apparently someone had entered the kitchen after me and closed the door behind them when they were done. Then I noticed the dining table, which looked as if no one had sat there to eat two hours ago, as if no one had ever sat side by side at that table, as if it had never been used. The chairs hadn't moved an inch, there wasn't a speck of dust on them, and from where I stood, the dining table sparkled...
On the long, brown dining table for twelve, there were two candlesticks with unlit white candles on them. When I remembered the last time I lit them, a meaningful smile appeared on my face, but I quickened my pace to compose myself and turned my face toward the brown door of the mansion.
I ran to the door, decorated with patterns resembling a lion's mane, and frantically opened it. Instead of the coldness that enveloped me, I let panic take hold of my body. As soon as I opened the door, the wind hit my face violently, enveloping my body like armor, and I didn't stop the tears streaming down my cheeks. At one point, I felt even the sweat on my forehead freeze.
The two guards standing by the door turned to me quickly and, noticing the white, long-backed, mini-front, deep V-neck lace nightgown I had put on two minutes earlier, both blushed to their ears and turned back to face forward. But the person who really frightened them was coming towards me at great speed.
Emir was walking towards the house with quick steps, checking the weapon in the holster on his belt. My effort to play my role well was commendable, but deceiving Emir was very difficult, despite the guards standing beside me.
His red, messy hair fell over his forehead and covered his face, almost hiding the freckles scattered between his nose and cheeks. The only thing that added color to her black suit and wheat-colored skin was her red, curly, long hair.
When she stopped a step ahead of me, she shot a stern glance at the guards, then turned around and sent warning glances to the twelve guards standing guard at the mansion's entrance, perhaps to warn them not to look at me, before turning back to me.
There was only one thing I had learned during all the time I had spent in this mansion.
Never get in Zehir Yıldırım's way.
And I had killed him tonight.
When his brown eyes met my tear-filled ones, he didn't flinch. Emir Kevser: cold, strict, psychopathic, and his master's dog...
"What happened?" When his gaze turned to me, he quickly pushed me aside and went inside.
The guards weren't authorized to enter, so they stayed outside, and I followed Emir inside, closing the door behind me. It was pitch black inside, so I calmly walked over to the light switch at the edge of the living room and pressed it, watching the room light up one last time.
Emir had his back to me and was about to step forward, quickly touching the banister to climb the stairs, when I pulled out the gun I had tightly tied to the elastic of my underwear. When I quickly pulled the trigger, Emir stopped on the fourth step and slowly turned around.
There was no disappointment on his face, none of the emotions I had seen in Zehir's eyes four minutes earlier...
Betrayal, disappointment, shock, and then hatred.
Instead, the only emotion I saw in his eyes was that he had expected this.
He had anticipated it; the reason he never trusted me was because he knew I would betray them one day.
"I knew it would hurt him." When a sly smile appeared on his lips, I knew it was a mask because his neck was starting to turn red with anger. He was worried about his master and knew I had killed him.
"You're a free dog now, Emir, though this freedom seems like it will be short-lived." When I gripped the gun a little tighter, he took a step forward, and I stopped him with anger. "Stay where you are!" He raised his eyebrows curiously, the irritating smile still on his face.
"You're making a big mistake, Deva. You'll never get out of here alive." He was right, I couldn't get out of here alive, but I had saved my trump card for today.
When I smiled, he frowned. "Oh, I guess I've piqued your curiosity. You're my ticket out." When he burst out laughing, I laughed too. "You have no idea how much it's killing me not to kill you with my own hands right now. I'm going to destroy you, Deva."
"If you lay a finger on me, I'll kill your little girlfriend." A deep silence fell, cutting his laughter like a knife, his eyes darkening with pure hatred.
"What are you talking about?" His voice trembled, and I knew he was about to lose control.
"The owner told me everything. Who do you think is behind every single detail of your plans? Did you really think about who gave your boss those ideas?"
He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, looking around with the urge to smash something, so I spoke again to get his attention.
"I'm not alone in this. If I don't get out of here safely and call my partner in five minutes to tell him I'm okay, the girl will die." He spoke with great seriousness, emphasizing every word, but he didn't seem to be listening to me.
"I'm serious, Emir, it's all over. That killer boss of yours and you will be in your graves tonight, and I will be free. You to the grave you deserve, and me to my freedom."
When he responded to my last words with a laugh, his gaze found the ceiling. It was as if he was looking for something up there. Then he looked at me, and after a long silence, his voice dropped.
"Did you ever love her? All this... was it just a role for you? Didn't you ever get tired of playing a role all that time?" The pauses, breaths, and gaps between his words seemed to give me time to think.
The emotions I fought within myself, the struggles I endured, were all for one purpose.
Revenge...
"Every single second," I leaned against the wall behind me and glanced at the dining table. "When we sat at that table, I wanted to vomit on all of your faces." I swallowed the lies that left a bitter taste in my mouth. "But most of all, I wanted to kill you, Emir. I wanted to kill you most of all. Because I knew you were my husband's murderer."
He waved his arms angrily. "Then what are you waiting for? Kill me! Because if you hesitate even for a second, I'll kill you, and believe me, I have no intention of letting anyone else enjoy that pleasure!" He was serious in every sentence, his eyes shining with determination, sending shivers down my spine.
"Why?" After a long time, my first tear fell sincerely. The first seed of sorrow inside me trickled down my cheeks, and I could barely swallow. "We were a normal family, why did you ruin our lives? We had so many plans to make, so many beautiful dreams to fulfill. Why did you take that away from us?" The tears I shed were for my husband. For the dreams we lost, the hopes that vanished, and the me that was destroyed...
My misty eyes prevented me from seeing him, and he didn't make a sound.
After a while, he cleared his throat. "Put your gun down, Deva," he said in a calm tone, but I knew... I could sense the rage beneath that calmness.
I shook my head quickly, my wet hair sticking to my face as it touched my cheeks. "You asked me if I ever got tired of acting, Emir. Let me tell you the truth for the first time before I die. For the first time in my life, I hated loving someone so much. Even knowing that being with him meant betraying my dead husband, I loved him so much that I wanted to engrave every kiss on my memory and carry his scent on me until I died, and it hurts so much." Then I pulled the trigger and shot him without aiming.
It was over.