My pen trembled. The shadows falling on my notebook seemed to dance with the darkness emanating from Kaan Berker's body. "Elif Yılmaz," he said, his voice as soft as velvet but just as piercing. "What was your father's... job?"
My throat went dry. That scene I had buried deep in my heart for years flashed in my mind again. That expression in my father's eyes... The silence of that night... "Construction engineer," I whispered. My voice was so faint that I doubted he even heard me.
Kaan leaned forward slightly in his chair. The sharp expression in his eyes was as if he were reading my soul. "Construction engineer, is that so? Interesting..." The sarcastic smile that appeared on the edge of his lips caused my stomach to clench. This man knew something. Maybe everything...
"Do you have a question, Elif?"
"No," I said quickly. "I just... think I missed the topic."
Kaan continued to scan me with his eyes. "The topic is the complexity of human psychology. And sometimes, even the most complex secrets tend to surface."
The rest of the lesson was torture for me. Every word, every look from Kaan was pushing me further into a corner. I felt guilty. As if I had committed my father's sin...
* * *
After class, I quickly left the classroom. My goal was to leave that cursed building as soon as possible. But before I could reach the door, a voice behind me stopped me.
"Elif!"
Kaan Berker was standing in the middle of the hallway. The expression in his eyes was very different from the one in class. More... intense. More curious.
"Can we talk for a bit?" he asked.
"Not now," I said hastily. "I need to study."
"Just a few minutes," he insisted. "In my office."
His office... Going there was like walking into a fire. But a part of me was dying to know what this man knew.
"Okay," I finally said. "But only for a few minutes."
* * *
Kaan's office was very different from what I expected. Shelves full of books, dim light, and a faint scent of incense... This was like a sanctuary.
"Sit," Kaan said, pointing to a leather armchair with his hand.
The moment I sat down, my tension increased even more. Being in front of this man made me feel vulnerable.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
Kaan slowly circled around his desk. "I'm curious about you, Elif. There's something different about you."
"Different?" I repeated mockingly. "Like what?"
"I don't know," Kaan said, fixing his eyes on me. "But it's clear that something is bothering you. And as a psychology professor, I have made it my duty to relieve people's discomfort."
"I don't have any discomfort," I lied.
Kaan smiled slightly. "Everyone has one, Elif. Some are just hidden deeper, that's all."
At that moment, I was sure that Kaan knew my father's secret. But how he learned it was a mystery to me.
"What do you know?" I asked, my voice trembling.
Kaan paused for a moment. Then, he slowly approached me. He was so close that I could feel his breath on my neck.
"Everything," he whispered. "And nothing..."
At that moment, the tension in the room was palpable. Kaan's gaze had almost hypnotized me. I didn't know what to do or what to say.
"I want to make a deal with you, Elif," Kaan said, his voice still a whisper. "I will show you the truth, and you will show me... your secrets."