"What do you mean my mother wasn't sick?" Aylin's voice turned into a whisper with this unexpected confession. Her eyes were lost on Murat's face, searching for an answer. Her heart was beating as if it would jump out of her chest. This man was making her question her entire life.
Murat remained calm in the face of Aylin's astonishment. "There had been problems between your father and mother for some time. Your mother wanted a divorce and your father couldn't accept it. Unfortunately, he experimented with some drugs on your mother. These drugs made her appear sick, but she wasn't really."
Aylin staggered a step back. Her father... How could he do this? How could he harm her mother? "You're lying," she said in a trembling voice. "My mother... My mother was very sick. I saw it with my own eyes."
"What you saw was what your father wanted to show you, Aylin," Murat replied. His voice was soft, but his words were like a poisoned arrow. "If you want to know the truth, you'll have to investigate your father's past."
Aylin's mind had turned into a complex labyrinth. Everything she had believed for years had suddenly shattered. Her mother's illness, her father's betrayal... Everything was mixed up. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "Why now?"
Murat took a step towards Aylin. As the distance between them closed, Aylin's breath caught in her throat. "Because you have the right to know the truth. And because..." Murat paused, his eyes drifting to Aylin's lips. "...I want to protect you."
Aylin's heart skipped a beat. Murat's closeness both attracted and frightened her. This man's secrets were like a dark well, and Aylin was afraid of being drawn in. But at the same time, she knew there was something in the depths of this dark well. Something... Maybe the truth about her mother.
"Help me," Aylin whispered. Her voice was so weak that she wasn't even sure Murat had heard her. "Help me find out the truth."
A slight smile appeared on Murat's lips. "I will, Aylin. But you should know that the truth is not always beautiful."
At that moment, the door suddenly opened and Dr. Demir entered. "Murat, there's an emergency. You need to come to the operating room." Demir's gaze fell on Aylin and he frowned. "Aylin? What are you doing here?"
Aylin avoided Demir's questioning gaze. "I... I just came to ask Murat a question."
"You should go now," Murat said, his voice authoritative. "We'll talk later."
Aylin nodded and quickly left the room. As she walked down the hallway, her mind was in turmoil. What Murat had said was spinning in her head. Her mother wasn't sick? Her father... Could he do that?
She took out her phone and called her father. The phone rang a few times before it was answered. "Aylin? Is there a problem?"
"Dad, I need to talk to you," Aylin said, her voice trembling. "Now."
"Of course, honey. Where are you, should I come?"
"I'm at the faculty right now. Let's meet at the faculty cafe."
"Okay, I'm coming."
Aylin hung up the phone and started walking towards the cafe. A big storm was brewing inside her. She was afraid of confronting her father, but she had to know the truth. For her mother...
When she arrived at the cafe, she found her father sitting at a table. His face was furrowed with worry. Aylin sat down next to him and took a deep breath. "Dad, we need to talk about Mom."
Her father frowned. "About your mother? What happened?"
"Murat told me something," Aylin said. "He said my mother wasn't really sick. Is that true?"
Her father paused for a moment. The expression on his face changed. "Aylin, don't be ridiculous. Your mother was very sick. You know that."
"No, I don't know," Aylin replied. "I want to know. Tell me the truth, Dad. Please."
Her father took a deep breath and looked away. "Aylin, this is a very complicated subject. I don't want to upset you."
"Upset me? You're already upsetting me! I'll be more upset if you don't tell me the truth."
Her father was silent for a while. Then, he raised his head and looked into Aylin's eyes. "Alright," he said. "I'll tell you everything. But promise me, you'll stay calm."
Aylin nodded. Her heart was pounding like crazy. She was about to learn the truth.
Her father started to tell his story. As he spoke, Aylin's world grew darker. Her mother wasn't really sick. Her father had given her drugs to make her appear sick. His goal was to prevent her from divorcing him. But things had gotten out of control. Her mother had died.
Aylin listened to her father's words in shock. Tears were streaming down her face. "You... You killed my mother!" she screamed.
Her father panicked. "No, Aylin! That's not what I meant. I just..."
"Enough!" Aylin shouted. She stood up and glared at her father. "I hate you!"
Aylin ran out of the cafe. Tears were wetting her face. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know who to trust. Everything had been turned upside down.
When she returned to the faculty building, she ran into Murat in the hallway. Murat was worried when he saw Aylin's disheveled state. "Aylin, what happened? Why are you crying?"
Aylin ran to Murat and hugged him tightly. "Everything... Everything is so bad," she sobbed.
Murat tried to calm Aylin down. "Shhh, calm down. Tell me, what happened?"
Aylin told Murat what her father had done. As Murat listened to Aylin's words, his face grew harder. "I can't believe he did that," he said.
Aylin was trembling in Murat's arms. "I don't know what to do," she said. "I don't know who to trust."
Murat took Aylin's face in his hands. He looked into her eyes. "You can trust me," he said. "I'll always be there for you."
Just then, Murat's phone rang. Murat looked at the phone and his face suddenly changed. "I'm sorry, Aylin. I need to take this call."
Murat stepped away from Aylin and answered the phone. "Yes?"
The voice on the phone was like a whisper. "Doctor, we have a problem. A student may have learned some things."
Murat's face grew even harder. "Who?" he asked.
"Aylin Şahin."
Murat's heart almost stopped. Aylin... She knew.
"Take care of her," the voice on the phone said. "We can't trust anyone."
Murat hung up the phone and turned to Aylin. There was a dark expression in his eyes. "Aylin," he said. "There's something important we need to talk about..."