When Ayla woke up that morning, she felt as if something inside her had broken. “Why me? I can’t bear this…”Her thoughts kept circling the same painful place. “God, please help me. What am I supposed to do?” Without even thinking, she called her sister — as she always did. She couldn’t even say, “Hi, it’s Ayla.” Her voice felt trapped deep inside her chest. The only thing that came out was a faint, trembling sound:
“Sister… I don’t know what to do.”
Zeynep knew these calls far too well. She
was tired — not of Ayla, but of watching her sister suffer again and again.
Still, the moment she heard her voice, she thought:
Same Ayla…
But something was different this time. The voice on the phone wasn’t crying or screaming. It was… empty.
“Ayla, sweetheart, listen. I’m coming. Just stay where you are and do nothing, okay?”
Ayla didn’t answer. It was as if her voice had been taken from her. All Zeynep could hear was a dull, breathless sound.
Fear pushed Zeynep into her car. She wanted
to pull her sister out of this fire with her own hands. But somewhere deep
inside, she knew one truth:
A person can only be saved by their own choices — what they do, or do not do.
When Zeynep reached the house, she barely
recognized her sister. Ayla’s eyes looked hollow.
“Taner…” was all she managed to say.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. This will pass. I promise, it will pass.”
Zeynep stayed with her the whole day. From Ayla’s few broken words, she understood what had happened. Taner had been caught with another woman. Again. This was not the first time — and Ayla had always convinced herself it would be the last. A bitter thought cut through Zeynep:
If only I could stop him once and for all… maybe we would both finally breathe again.
People always show who they truly are from the beginning — we just don’t want to believe it.
“Sweetheart,” Zeynep said softly, “I talked to Mom. I packed a suitcase for you. We’re going to the island. Mom prepared the attic for you. I have to go to work — you shouldn’t stay here alone. She’ll stay with you, okay?”
Ayla simply nodded. Like a fragile doll, she went wherever she was guided. When she entered the attic room, something inside whispered,
“This time feels different.”
She hugged her mother and cried like a child. But the feeling inside wasn’t panic anymore. Not rage either.
“I think… this is truly the end,” she sobbed.
Later, when she woke up, her mother was gone — but the pain remained. She reached for the glass of water beside her, took a few sips, and drifted back into sleep.
Days passed before she fully returned to
herself.
She didn’t know how long it had been. Day and night had blended together. Everything she once relied on had collapsed.
“So… the thing I thought I was holding onto… it never existed,” she whispered. Her tears came freely now — without permission. When she reached for the crackers next to her bed, she realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. Her mother had begged her to eat, but her body refused.
Maybe I should try something light, she thought. Her mother had gone to Istanbul that day. When Ayla picked up her phone to check the time, she saw dozens of missed calls and messages. When she saw Taner’s name, she felt absolutely nothing.
She scrolled:
– Ayla, where are you?
– Why are you exaggerating? It was just a
work meeting. And what do you mean you changed the locks?
– Come on, you know you’re the only one for
me. Don’t make this bigger than it is.
– My wife… come home.
Then the messages shifted:
– What do you think you’re doing?
Ayla deleted the entire thread without reading further. Then she went back to bed — hollow, but calm.
Later, her mother and Zeynep returned home carrying bags.
“Okay, that’s enough. We’re going for a walk,” Zeynep said.
Ayla didn’t resist. She knew she had to stand up again. Even ten minutes of walking felt surprisingly good. They walked every day. Ten days later, she decided she was ready to return home. It was time for action — though she had no idea where to start.
Have I ever done anything purely for myself? For years, she had lived Taner’s life instead of her own.
His meals.
His clothes.
His friends.
His routines.
All the responsibilities — hers.
His excuses were always the same:
“I don’t have time.”
But why had he never once brought something
home just to make her happy?
And why had she never asked?
When she returned to her own kitchen, she felt hungry. She opened a jar of her mother’s menemen and cracked two eggs into the pan. Out of habit, she turned off the stove early, before the yolks cooked through.
Taner liked them that way.
“What am I doing? Ayla… how do you like your menemen?”
She didn’t know. And that realization burned.
She knew everything about Taner — every
detail.
But her own preferences? Forgotten.
“I used to love the smell of laundry dried slowly in the open air,” she remembered. She had abandoned piece after piece of herself just to keep one man comfortable.
But desires fed without balance become a black hole. They grow endlessly.
“I existed before this man,” she whispered. Yet she could remember almost nothing of that girl.
Did I spend the last ten years doing nothing but trying to keep him from leaving?
“How sad,” she said.
Her university years came to mind — the last time she had felt truly valuable.
“What happened to me?” Then she straightened.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. That was then. Now… it’s time to act.”
She stood.
When you spend your life trying to make
others happy, you end up losing your own life completely.
Since the beginning of humanity, Our greatest friend and enemy has remained the same: The person in the mirror...
"Experiential Design Teaching" is dedicated to help humans discover their true purpose. It guides people toward open consciousness to make better decisions and choices. It offers strategies for real solutions to real problems.
The programs that begin with “Who’s Who,” followed by “Mastery in Relationships” and “The Psychology of Success,” aim to help people become happier and more successful compared to their past selves.
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