The Boughted Mafia Wife

Chapter 2 - Difficult Moments

My life had been spent in fear of others. It started with fearing my father. I went to school, and I feared my teacher. I started working, and I feared my boss. Now, I was afraid of that man. While my body was still trembling, I entered the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My face had turned completely pale.

I splashed water on my face repeatedly. At that moment, my mother's words came to mind. She had mentioned a dark-skinned man. I immediately erased it from my mind because I didn't want to be afraid of the person I would fall in love with. On the contrary, I wanted him to protect me from this life.

I hoped to find the fatherly affection I never received in his arms and expected love from him, yet I was also avoiding men. My father was supposedly in love with my mother, but now he wouldn't even look at her. He acted as if she didn't exist. I had witnessed my mother's sadness many times.

My father had never once come to her and asked if she needed anything. No matter what, my mother couldn't give up on him. I knew she was still in love with him. Even though she got angry when he hit me, her eyes sparkled when she talked about my father. That's why I couldn't blame her.

As I placed my hands on the edges of the sink and watched the water flow from my face, the door opened. As I lifted my head, I saw his reflection in the mirror: Mirza Hanoğlu.

What was he doing here? Why had he followed me? This wasn't the men's restroom. As I continued to stare at him, frozen, his stern gaze was fixed on me. With a trembling voice, I said, “Sir, the men's restroom is on the other side.” He closed the door.

My legs started to tremble. He was walking towards me. I immediately turned towards him and started backing away. “I swear, if I knew you were coming here, I wouldn't have entered. I won't come across you again, and I—” Before I could finish, I suddenly found myself backed against the wall.

He was right in front of me. He placed his hands on either side of me. “Did I tell you that you could leave?” he asked. I swallowed. Wasn't telling me not to come across him the same as telling me to leave now? I remained silent.

He grabbed my chin. “When you're asked a question, don't you answer?” he asked.

This time he wasn't squeezing my chin, but our faces were so close that I could feel his breath on my face. “Sir, I won't come across you,” I said with a trembling voice. He shook his head from side to side.

"From today onwards, I told you, you'll come and wait by my side. Who gave you the right to leave before I'm done talking?" he asked. He let go of my chin and grabbed the hair that had fallen in front of my eyes. I couldn't understand what he was trying to do while playing with it.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, stammering. My heart was pounding like a marathon runner's. I was sure my face was starting to blush more and more. Why had he done such a thing?

"What am I doing, Elfin?" he whispered in my ear. His voice sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I questioned myself as this phrase I read in Dreame books became real. No man had ever approached me like this before.

"Mr. Mirza, please step back," I said, and the corner of his mouth curled up. I was sure this man who was causing me difficult moments was doing it all deliberately. With his scent so close, I couldn't control my thoughts. "Why were you so brave yesterday, and now there's no trace of that courage?" he said, coming even closer to me.

With only a small gap left between our lips, I placed my hands on his chest to push him away, but he was ready. He immediately put his hands on my wrists. I started trembling at the touch of his hands on my skin. Just his touch sent an electric current through my entire body. With little distance left between our lips, he let out a slight laugh.

"I'm not so stupid as to not see through the little game you played yesterday to get my attention! I'm not falling for these tricks anymore. If you want to moan beneath me, just say so," he said, and I froze. What was he saying to me? I wasn't one of those girls who moaned under him. I started struggling to pull my hands away.

"Let me go!"

"Why? Are you trying to play the innocent girl now?" he asked. Did he really think I was a w***e? As my tears flowed, I sobbed, "Do you realize what you're accusing me of? I'm not a w***e!"

Just then, a blonde woman entered. I met her gaze. When she said "Mirza," he stepped back and looked at her. Even with my blurry vision, I could see the woman's jealous glances. Mirza didn't move away from me and said, "You, go outside!" and the woman nodded and left.

He turned back to me again. "Stop crying; you're getting on my nerves. I didn't call you a w***e! I was trying to understand your intention, Elfin!" he hissed. My tears kept flowing uncontrollably. His blatant s****l proposition was as good as calling me a w***e.

"What was my intention?" I asked. While I couldn't answer him before, now I was speaking with defiance.

"If your intention was to sleep with me, you would have thrown yourself at me here, Elfin. Even if your intentions are innocent, don't interfere in anyone's business from now on! I don't care about anyone's sob stories, but this time I'm forgiving you."

I wished he would stay away from me, and I never wanted to see him again. Following me to the bathroom and everything... It dawned on me then. The mafia usually had enemies. He was questioning me, so I couldn't blame him. My inner voice hated how naive I was being.

"Mr. Mirza, please leave. I didn't know who you were. From now on, I'll keep my distance. I won't come across you again!" I said.

He nodded. "If you cross paths with me again, the consequences will be severe!" he said and left. I took a deep breath and went out. While helping in the kitchen, I avoided going upstairs. When the manager came to the kitchen, he shouted urgently, "Elfin, come to my office immediately!"

I exchanged glances with the chef. What was going on now? Why was the man who had never shouted at me before so angry? He never shouted because I never made mistakes. I really needed this job. Finding another job these days was difficult. As I was going upstairs, I saw Mr. Mirza and his entourage paying.

When the manager shouted "Elfin!" Mr. Mirza's gaze turned to us. He just looked and left without even glancing back. I still couldn't shake off the incident in the bathroom. I didn't understand why he followed me. He claimed to gauge my intentions, but his actions were bizarre.

Upon entering the manager's office, he said, "Customers have complained about you."

"How? You know I work very hard. I've never been disrespectful to anyone," I said, defending myself immediately. The manager's eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper. "I can't ignore the disrespect you showed to Mr. Mirza! He's our real boss, Elfin! You've blatantly defied him!"

I was sure other waiters had said this. They didn't like me much because I had never made a mistake until now. "I talked to him. We cleared things up," I said, and he started to laugh. He gave me a condescending look.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Handled! Who are you to handle anything? You're just a lowly waitress! He probably showed you goodwill out of pity, but I can never overlook this disrespect! You're fired!" he said, and I couldn't even breathe, let alone process what he had just said.

I looked at him as if to say, "Please don't." My cheeks were now sore from crying again. I cried every day. With pain... When would these tears ever flow from happiness? I locked away my heart that kept screaming it would never happen.

"Please, I'm begging you! I really need this job. My mother is sick. There's no one else bringing money home!" I said, looking at him pleadingly. Even though he knew this, he didn't care at all. He pointed to the door.

"Take this month's salary on your way out and don't come back here again!" he said.

I looked at him with pleading eyes. "I'll work more. I'll even clean the toilets if necessary. Please, I'm begging you."

He didn't even look at my tears. "Elfin, are you still here? I don't want to see you here again!" he said, grabbing my arm and starting to drag me out of his office. Why was I always being dragged around like a sack by people? Serenay ran over when she saw me.

"This friend of yours won't be working here anymore! If you don't want to get fired too, you'll keep quiet!"

He silenced her because he knew she would react. I gave her a look to keep quiet and headed to the changing room. I took out my bag and started putting my things in it. When Serenay came over, she asked, "Elfin, what's going on? Why did he do this to you?"

Her voice sounded very sad. Everything had happened after yesterday. When I told her what happened, she fixated on Mirza Bey cornering me in the bathroom. "Do you think this guy's got a thing for you?" she asked, and I sighed.

"Serenay, I don't care about any man! I'm worried about being fired! Why should I care about him? Is that really what you're focused on? I'm thinking about how to tell my father," I replied, and she sighed, finally realizing she was wrong.

"Don't tell him for a while," she suggested, but I shook my head.

"He'll figure it out right away, Serenay. What am I going to do? I really need this."

She placed her hand on mine. "Something will come up. Don't worry yourself. Like I said, Elfin."

How was I supposed to know? I was the one who seemed to attract all the bad luck. Serenay hugged me. "Elfin, don't tell him you got fired tonight. At least he won't beat you tonight," she said, and that sense of helplessness was something I felt every night.

After hugging her and thanking her for everything, I left work. I looked at the café one last time. Maybe I would never come back here again. Anyway, I could never afford it. As I walked with my bag on my back, I came to the seaside and watched the sea for a while. Looking at the endless water with tears in my eyes, a strong wind began to blow. As it brushed against my face, I started to feel cold.

When I checked the time on my phone, there was still time before the end of work, but I was very cold. I had nowhere else to turn. I decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. As people passed by me laughing, I felt completely isolated. When I finally got home, I went inside.

"Volkan, is that you?" she called out.

When I approached her, she asked, "Elfin, what are you doing here?"

She was surprised to see me home so early. I walked over and hugged her tightly. "Mom, I got fired," I said, sobbing. As my mom stroked my hair, I continued to cry in her arms. We stayed like that for a while.

"You'll find another job, sweetheart. Don't worry."

As I looked at her hopefully, she returned my gaze with hope. "Don't worry, you'll find something better, my girl. Never lose faith in God."

The only thing I held onto was my hope. I had nothing else. When the front door opened, I realized my dad had come home. "Is this your house, huh?" I heard him shout, prompting me to rush out of the room. I found my dad with his face and nose battered, supported by another man's shoulder. I rushed to him in a panic.

"Dad, what happened to you?" I asked. My dad seemed lifeless. The man practically shoved my dad inside. He couldn’t hold himself up and fell to the ground. I knelt down to try to lift him, but I froze at the man's words.

“Look at me! If you don’t pay your debt, the next time death will enter this house!” he threatened before leaving. While I was still unsure of how to tell my father that I had lost my job, it turned out he had debts. I struggled to bring him inside.

Whose debt had reduced my father’s face and eyes to such an unrecognizable state? “Dad, how much is this debt?” I asked. He barely managed to say, “One million,” and my eyes widened in shock. What had my father done with this money? The real question was, how were we going to pay this debt?

Once again, life kept hitting me from every direction...