“So,” she said slowly, with a thin, contemptuous smile, “you’ve been listening to us all this time.” “Yes, you heard every word. And now what? Are you planning a scene over this misunderstanding?”
Joanna shook her head. “No. I just want basic respect,” she said.
Nevin arched one eyebrow. “Respect? That has to be earned, dear,” she replied coolly.
Joanna took a slow breath and felt a calm strength rise in her. “No one has to earn the right to be treated like a human being.” At that moment, Felis stepped closer, listening in with open interest.
“Do you really think,” the aunt said coldly, “that you can just walk into our family?” “I think,” Joanna answered with dignity, “that if a family believes it’s so far above other people that it can insult someone behind her back, then that family doesn’t understand dignity at all.” “And I have no interest in becoming part of a family like that.”
The room went so quiet they could hear someone in the kitchen washing dishes. Kasim stepped toward Joanna and took her hand—carefully, but with real fear in his eyes. “Joanna, please. Don’t turn this into a war.”
“You still don’t understand,” she said sadly. “I understand more than you think. I can see very clearly that you’re more afraid of their anger than you are of losing me.” He froze. The truth of it landed hard.
Nevin crossed her arms. “If you’re this sensitive…” she began, then shrugged and turned to her son. “Maybe it would be best to end this relationship now.”
“Kasim, listen to me. This girl is too thin-skinned. She won’t last in our world.” Joanna looked at her fiancé and waited. He needed to say something—something that would settle everything, one way or the other.
But he kept silent. And that silence was worse than any insult. “Now I understand,” Joanna said quietly.
Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Joanna, wait,” Kasim whispered. She raised a hand, stopping him.
“I never asked you to choose between me and your mother. But I can see I mean nothing to her. And apparently not enough to you either, if you can’t say one sentence in my defense.”
He let out a heavy breath, as if something inside him were collapsing. “Please understand, I don’t want to lose you,” he said. “But you haven’t done one thing to keep me,” she answered honestly.
She turned on her heel and walked toward the front door. Nevin couldn’t resist one last jab, calling after her in Turkish: “There are a thousand girls like her in Turkey.” “Don’t worry, son. You’ll find another one—someone well-bred, from a proper family”…
