“90 Day”: Sarper Finally Proposes to Shekinah After a Year of Ups and Downs but His True Intentions Remain a Secret
The fate of the couple's relationship remains uncertain, as Shekinah remains unaware of Sarper's plan to use the engagement as a way to keep her in Turkey
Sarper and Shekinah are finally engaged, but the fate of their rocky relationship still remains uncertain.
Shekinah agreed to take Sarper’s hand in marriage during a romantic boat ride in Turkey during the Nov. 11 episode of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way.
However, the engagement was just the first step in Sarper’s plan to try and keep Shekinah in Turkey, unbeknownst to her, despite getting a K-1 visa approved by the United States that would allow him to move to the county.
Sarper began his proposal by thanking Shekinah for helping him go from “the most chaotic, toxic man on the planet” to a “man full of love.
“I don't know how you did it but you cracked, hacked my password, logged into me and changed all my default settings one by one,” he said while they sipped on red wine together.
Sarper then escorted Shekinah outside, where he sang a personally-written song for his soon-to-be fiancée.
He then got down on one knee and pulled out an engagement ring for Shekinah, but instead of popping the question, he declared, “I will marry you!”
“You’re just telling me?” Shekinah laughed, as she and Saprer embraced, to which he responded, “I hate to ask questions with yes and no. But you accepted it!”
But the engagement festivities didn’t end there. Later on, the pair met up with Sarper’s family for an official Turkish engagement ceremony, during which Shekinah was tasked with making her fiancé a terrible-tasting coffee to see if he could drink it without reacting.
Sarper’s cousin Füsun, who explained the tradition to Shekinah, said the goal is to test the husband and see “how badly” he wanted to marry her.
But when it came time for the ceremony, Sarper had a difficult time keeping a straight face. “Is that a little face you’re pulling?” Shekinah asked as members of his family chuckled over his reaction.
“It was disgusting,” Sarper admitted in a confessional. “I tried to not give any reaction. I don’t know if I did it, but oof.”
The coffee ceremony was followed by a ring ceremony in which Sarper and Shekinah donned rings connected with a red ribbon that was then cut by the oldest member of the family to symbolize the beginning of the engagement.
Afterward, Sarper informed his family that his K-1 visa was approved by the U.S., but claimed he wanted to remain in Turkey with Shekinah instead of moving.
“My goal is for us to be able to live here,” Sarper said in Turkish, a language Shekinah is still not fluent in. “I hope that all the love she’s seen from you here and our culture have convinced her [to stay].”
But when Shekinah asked for a translation, Sarper did not tell her about his grand plan.
“My family, they don’t want me to go and they love Shekinah,” Sarper explained, “so I’m still hoping we can eventually convince Shekinah to stay here in Turkey.”
Meanwhile, Shekinah felt “hopeful for the future,” and seemingly has no clue about Sarper’s plan.
“I just never thought that I would be standing here today engaged to that man in the picture and planning a future with him,” she said in a confessional.
“It's just so surreal and I can't wait to get to the US and start our lives together,” Shekinah added.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.