Maybe this Time

Chapter 3

Professor Sinan looked at her sternly.

"Ceylin, for God's sake, be careful," the man sighed nervously. "If what you're saying is true, we're in a deeper hole than we initially imagined."

The lawyer was moved by how the professor referred to the situation in the plural as if she could count on his support.

"Be very careful what you do with that information," he advised her, visibly distressed.

"I won't share it with anyone else. I'll only go forward with this if I find any real evidence that these companies are really connected to the same corruption scheme."

"Send a copy of the documents you gathered to the email address I just sent to your phone. I'll take a look and try to help with whatever I can."

"Are you sure you want to be directly involved in this?" Ceylin asked. She knew the risks she was taking, and there was no reason to get her professor into a mess that was her own.

He smacked his lips in response as if she were crazy to consider otherwise.

"It's a little late to worry about that, isn't it?" the professor asked resignedly.

Ceylin smiled, pleased that she could count on the support of the man she considered a mentor.

"Is this your backup email account?" Ceylin raised her eyes to her computer screen after seeing the notification for his message. "It's not the one you use for work."

"Yes. I only use it when I want that blabbermouth Ezel not knowing the content of my messages," he replied good-naturedly, referring to his young secretary.

"How is she, by the way? "Ceylin asked, genuinely interested. "I know Ezel never liked me, but..."

"Nonsense," the professor dismissed Ceylin's last statement with a wave of his hand. "She's fine. She even asked about you the other day... from what I could understand, she thinks you left Ankara because you got your heart broken. I don't know where she got the idea, but I thought it would be wise to let her think that. At least it won't raise any suspicions."

Ceylin gave the man a half-hearted smile, trying to hide her apprehension.

She knew what had prompted Ezel to think she was experiencing a romantic disillusion. A while back, the secretary had seen Mert in her office while she studied documents from Crux's folder. Ezel was aware that clients' files were classified and lawyers weren't supposed to have them open in their office if a third party was around.

Ceylin knew she could be fired if her professor and direct boss found out that she was breaking the rules and potentially jeopardizing the company. That had been the reason she'd told Ezel that Mert was her boyfriend and he was there waiting for her to finish working so they could leave together.

Ceylin had made sure to back up her lie the following two or three times Mert had come to her office with more information about what they were investigating. Even though Professor Sinan knew that she was suspicious of Crux and had snooped through their documents, Ceylin had let him believe that it was for a related case rather than to help out a friend.

"I also have no idea why she thinks that but it's probably better that she does," Ceylin commented as casually as she could. "I don't want to take up any more of your time, Professor Sinan. I think I've bothered you enough."

"Not at all. I'm happy to see that you're doing okay," the man said goodbye before disconnecting the call.

But even hours after she'd hung up, Ceylin lay awake, still thinking about her professor's words.