Eva

The Judge’s Patience Explodes”

Chapter 7

“The Judge’s Patience Explodes”

The trial had ended, but the tension still echoed off the courthouse walls. In the corridors, everyone whispered the same thing:

“Prosecutor Karan and Lawyer Tezcan clashed again.”

The court clerk hurriedly approached Eva:

“Ms. Lawyer, Judge Murat is waiting for you in his office.”

Without hesitation, Eva nodded. At the same time, Kemal was called as well.

A few minutes later, the two former lovers—still officially married—sat face to face in Murat Tezcan’s judge office, whose severity shaped the atmosphere.

Murat rested his hands on the desk, glasses perched on the tip of his nose. His gaze was piercing and weary.

“What are you two doing?” he said suddenly, his voice calm but firm.

“What kind of disgrace is this? What is this supposed to mean?!”

Eva looked away. Kemal rubbed the back of his neck but said nothing.

Murat closed the file and pushed it aside.

“You are still married. Still sharing the same house, the same last name. And yet here you are, disgracing yourselves in the courthouse!”

Kemal leaned forward slightly, as if to explain.

“Father—”

“Don’t call me father,” Murat said, twisting his face. “Right now, I am not your father—I am the representative of justice. And the face of justice is being tarnished by yours.”

Eva clenched her teeth, her voice trembling as she replied:

“I tried to stay silent, father. But Kemal keeps—”

“Eva, shut up. Both of you shut up,” Murat said, banging his hands on the desk.

“You’re competing over who is right, but there’s no marriage or respect left. You bicker even in the courtroom. You’ve turned court hearings into duels! This can’t go on!”

Kemal looked at Murat.

“I still love her. But… it’s no longer possible to even breathe in the same house with her.”

Eva turned her head to the wall, swallowing hard.

“Me? Your presence no longer feels like a home, Kemal. It’s like a courtroom.”

Murat leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

“Everyone in this courthouse is gossiping about you. You’ve turned this institution, this surname, into the talk of the courthouse corridors. One of you is a prosecutor, the other a lawyer. But first and foremost, you are husband and wife. You forgot that too.”

He opened his eyes, speaking slowly and weighing his words carefully:

“Either end this marriage properly… or don’t ever let me see you tear each other apart again in the courtroom. I can no longer find a place to defend you.”

Silence enveloped every corner of the room. Eva bit her lip, Kemal clenched his fists, but both bowed their heads.

Murat raised his hand:

“Now get out. Both of you.”

As the door closed, Murat Tezcan sank into his chair.

His daughter and son-in-law were losing each other right before his eyes. And neither law nor justice could stop it.

Chapter

“The Fire Echoing in the Corridor”

As they left Murat Tezcan’s office, there was a step of distance between them. Eva walked ahead, Kemal behind. The corridor was crowded, but everyone quietly exchanged looks, whispers already spreading:

“They came out…”

“Let’s see how long they’ll stay silent this time.”

Eva asked through clenched teeth without looking back at Kemal:

“What makes you still say that ‘I love you’ nonsense, I wonder?”

Kemal stepped closer, his voice low but poisonous:

“Because I still love you, Eva. But now you only bite when you speak. Nothing else is left in you.”

Eva stopped, slowing her step but not turning around.

“Nothing left in me, Kemal? Or am I the one who’s exhausted from having to remember which bed you’re in every night?”

Kemal stopped too, raising his voice a bit:

“But you never tried to forgive! From the very start, you declared war on me. Yes, I made mistakes, but you condemned me repeatedly without even hearing my defense!”

Eva turned around. Now their voices belonged only to themselves no longer. A few officers in the corridor had turned their heads, slowing down gently.

“Do I still have the strength to listen to your defense, Kemal? After months of your hands reaching out to every woman, you still say ‘we’ to me? That’s enough, I give up!”

Kemal’s voice rose, his eyes burning:

“You’re still living in the past! I’m trying to change, but you keep judging over and over. The same accusations every morning, the same cold wall!”

Eva stepped closer. There was no whisper anymore, only her clear, loud words echoing through the corridor:

“Living with you is a punishment. Breathing the same oxygen with you is a sentence!”

Kemal let out a hoarse laugh:

“Living with you feels like the courtroom, Eva! Constant judgment, constant punishment, constant yelling!”

Their voices now echoed through the entire courthouse. Steps halted, heads turned. From the judge’s clerk to the bailiff, everyone stopped, watching with “again?” looks. The sound climbed the walls… and then…

Murat Tezcan’s door slowly opened.

Judge Tezcan squinted, brows furrowed, staring at his daughter and son-in-law from among the crowd frozen in place.

Once again…

The tense marriage echoed in the courthouse corridors, shaming justice in all its seriousness.