LEADEN

THE DIVORCE PROTOCOL

“I’ll be upset if you won’t, you hear me?! In fact, I am divorcing YOU!”

Yusuf was still intent on getting the last word, as if he were in some competition and couldn’t afford to lose. He kept shrinking in my eyes, becoming pettier and pettier. I walked back out the door I had been dragged through just moments before ~without even grabbing my belongings. I was without my chauffeur because Yusuf had beaten Hüseyin and fired him. *That man had been my driver for years. I am the one who hired him. Who are you? Who the hell are you, Yusuf? By what right do you fire my employee?* I thought.

I was absolutely seething with anger and needed to clear my head, but first, there was something I had to take care of. I immediately grabbed my phone once I was in my car. It didn’t take much for him to pick up.

“Yes, Naz,” he said immediately.

“How’s it going, Erdem?”

“Fine, what’s up with you?”

“Likewise. I need two things from you. First, I’m gonna DM you a location, so come; we’re getting a report of an assault. We also need to save the security camera footage from the mansion; you can get it from the cloud account. I’ll send you the link in a bit.”

“A report of assault?” he sounded concerned. “What happened? Wait, did Yusuf lay a hand on you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, dear! I’d rip his arm off and shove it down his throat,” I responded with confidence.

“What kind of talk is that, Naz?” he sounded shocked. “Is that language really becoming of you?”

He was right, the damage Yusuf had done was way beyond physical.

“Never mind that for now,” I sighed as I stopped because of the red light. “That imbecile attacked my chauffeur. I’m on my way to the poor guy’s place. Let’s get an assault report from our hospital and file a lawsuit against him.” My eyes caught the green light before I added, “And prepare a divorce agreement.”

“Hold on! Please don’t tell me you’re asking for the divorce agreement for yourself.”

“Of course, it’s for me! Prepare it according to the prenuptial agreement; however that’s done… I’ll give him back the house he gave me for my mahr. Whatever title deeds and such there are, you prepare them. If you can put it all into one protocol—”

“And what would you like to have for the condiments, princess of the Marmara region? You sound like you’re ordering a wrap from a kebab shop.”

“Erdem, don’t make fun of me, you son of Magna Carta!”

“What a cranky, foul-mouthed woman you’ve become. What happened to you? Fancy a shisha?” He was really in the mood.

“Erdem, don’t hold me up any longer. I gotta call Hüseyin and find out where he is. Just come straight to the hospital.”

“I have some things to do at the office,” he said. “You get the assault report, and we’ll meet at the police station.”

“Call me once you are done then.”

“Okay, see you.”

After talking to Erdem, I called Hüseyin.

“Yes, Ms. Naz?” he responded as he picked up.

“Hüseyin, are you an i***t?”

“Would you speak to me properly, please?” he sounded offended.

“Good to see that you can stand up for yourself; you should’ve done the same against Yusuf. He wouldn’t lay a finger on you in normal terms.”

“But he’s your husb—”

“Just because he’s my husband doesn’t mean he had the right to attack you. Never, ever again, no matter who it is, let anyone treat you like that. Protecting me was one of the definitions of your job title, yet you can’t even protect yourself. How come, tell me?”

“Ms. Naz, you’ve already fired me,” he said with a sigh. “Don’t come down on me any harder.”

“Pardon me? Which job did I fire you from, dude?” I angrily laughed. “The man told you to go, and you just left like that. You’re my employee, not his, and I didn’t fire you. Tell me where you are; I’m on my way to pick you up. We’ll get an assault report for you so we can sue him.”

“Ms. Naz, there’s no need for any of this.”

“So you are the one to decide, excellence?” I responded with a mocking attitude. “Where are you at? DM me your location quickly.”

“As you command, Ms. Naz.”

“After the hospital, we’re going to the police station to meet my lawyer. Tell them everything exactly as it happened.”

“Alright, Ms. Naz.”

“Don’t forget to DM me your location; I am on my way,” I said before I hung up the phone.

I made another call.

“I’m going to Monte Carlo. I need my jet to be set… this evening.”