Yasmin woke around mid-afternoon, feeling groggy and out of sorts. After Volkan left her, she’d crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep, waking up periodically to remember what had happened and then crying again. She went through a gamut of emotions, eventually settling on white hot rage.

How fucking (yes, she was swearing now – Volkan deserved the F-word) dare he trick her into flying halfway around the world then forcing her to fall in love with him. And yes, she was definitely in love with the giant jerk, be it true love or some twisted form of Stockholm, what she felt in her heart was real.

Which was why her heart was shattered over Volkan’s abandonment. Even if he still believed she tried to escape him, he was a complete beast for leaving her on an island alone the day after their wedding without a single word about when he’d be back.

Her rage helped hold back the worry that threatened to consume her. What if he left her for days or even weeks? She’d searched the house for a phone and hadn’t been able to find one. There were touch screen panels on the walls in every room, but they were passcode locked and she didn’t have access.

But with the dawning of a new day, Yasmin felt more centred. She crawled out of the bed, determined to make the most of her time in the mansion on the island. It was a glorious location and the weather was so beautiful she could sleep with the balcony doors open. She took a moment to step outside and breathe in the scent of fresh ocean breeze. It was both comforting and stimulating.

“No reason to be angry here,” she murmured to herself. “Though it would be nice to know where my family is.”

She was worried. She knew they’d be worried about her, too. In their eyes, she’d been acting so strangely over the past few months. Then, on the day of her wedding, she’d disappeared without saying goodbye. At the very least, her apparent snub must have hurt them. She needed to find a way to call them and make sure they were safe.

She decided to go about her day as if everything was normal… or as normal as it could get for someone abandoned in a mansion alone on an island in the Mediterranean. She had to believe that Volkan would be back for her soon. Checking the closets, she found several racks of women’s clothes all sized to fit her.

Picking out a pair of pink shorts and a black top with a bow between the breasts and cute patterning on the sleeves, she tossed them on the bed and made her way into the washroom. She took a long hot shower, trying to wash all her worries down the drain.