Yasmin let out a bloodcurdling scream as she fell backwards. She frantically reached out, trying to hold onto anything as she fell. She latched onto Defne’s wrist and, as gravity took her over the edge, plunging her toward the water, Defne fell with her.

Black swirling water rushed at her and she thought of her Volkan. If she died, so would the baby, and she didn’t think Volkan would survive without them. In one selfish act, Defne was destroying an entire family.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Volkan stood and stretched his arms over his head before straightening his tie and cufflinks. He was looking forward to seeing his wife after a long day of straightening out business ledgers and talking to a potential prospect for his brother’s old position. Though Demir had proven himself untrustworthy, he’d been decent enough at his job and was difficult to replace. Volkan had spent the past several months doing both jobs until they found a suitable candidate.

As much as he wanted to see his wife, he couldn’t say he was looking forward to dinner with the entire family. He wanted her to himself, not share her with others. Unfortunately, his stubborn wife seemed determined to help heal his family after the trauma of Demir’s betrayal.

Volkan picked up his leather briefcase and headed for the door, but before he could reach it, Janet burst through stopping him in his tracks. She never entered his office unannounced.

“Something’s happened!” she said on a gasp, her face pale with fear. “There’s a commotion outside. The dock workers are saying someone went into the water.”

For a few precious seconds, he stopped breathing as intuition skittered down his spine. Yasmin. He dropped his briefcase and raced through the door, shoving past Janet, who chased after him.

Every step he took, every second that passed felt like an eternity as he imagined every horrific scenario. Yasmin falling into the water, being pulled under a ship, or sucked under the docks and drowned. At eight months pregnant in the strongly churning waters, she wouldn’t have the ability to keep herself above for very long, if she survived the fall. If a ship had been coming into dock… it didn’t bear thinking about.

He flung the outside door open and sprinted through it, running across the docks toward a large group of people who were gathered next to a container ship that had just come in. They were surrounding something.

It was his mother, collapsed on the dock, sobbing, her face in her. He dropped to his knees and gripped her shoulders.

“Yasmin!” It was all he could say. No other words would emerge, but she understood. She lifted her tear-stained, stricken face to look at him and nodded.

“And Defne,” she whispered.