She had moved to Istanbul to live with her father after years of being apart. The city was a strange new world, full of history, noise, and secrets she wasn’t sure she was ready to uncover. Her father had made a new life here, running a small yet successful business, but they hadn’t spent much time together since her childhood.

One evening, as she helped her father set the table for dinner, he mentioned that an old friend would be visiting—the kind of friend who had seen her father through thick and thin. She didn’t think much of it, but when the doorbell rang, everything changed.

Her father’s friend was a well-dressed, older man with a booming voice and a larger-than-life presence. His son, however, was something entirely different. He was quiet, his expression unreadable as he stepped into the room. He wasn’t interested in the pleasantries, barely offering her a glance as he walked past.