After that day, university started again, and everyone became busy with studies. Since it was the final year, all of them had started focusing seriously on academics.
Leera and Yesir usually went to the library together to study.
Nayza preferred studying alone, so she mostly stayed in her apartment.
And Doruk was already good at studies from the beginning, so he didn't really have to work that hard.
Meanwhile, Savash had gone back to the country he came from, where his father's business was.
Huru lived with her mother.
And as for Erhaan, Yesir talked to him sometimes. Through him, they found out that Erhaan was doing well there too. He was learning everything about his uncle's company because one day he would have to handle it himself. Erhaan had told this to Yesir personally.
Everything was going fine.
And just like that, more than six months passed.
One day, Nayza was making food for herself in the kitchen.
Suddenly, for no reason at all, Erhaan's face appeared in her mind.
Her heart skipped instantly.
Nayza quietly let out a breath.
"Why did Erhaan suddenly come to my mind?"
She stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking to herself again.
"Maybe because of what Yesir said that day… Since then, I keep wondering what actually happened to Erhaan."
Then she shook her head lightly.
"Whatever."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Now it's finally time to eat. Tadaa."
Just as she lifted a spoon toward her mouth, her phone suddenly started ringing.
Nayza casually picked up her phone, but the moment she saw the caller ID, her expression immediately changed.
All the happiness on her face disappeared.
"Why is she calling me…?"
Fear instantly filled her chest.
Her hands slowly started sweating.
After a few seconds, she finally answered the call.
"H-Hello…"
From the other side, her mother's voice came.
"Hello."
Nayza replied softly, her voice already sounding nervous.
Deep down, she already knew something was wrong.
Whenever she got a call from home, it always brought problems into her life.
Then her mother spoke coldly,
"From next month onward, we won't be able to send you money anymore."
For a moment, Nayza couldn't even react properly.
"W-Why, Mom? What happened?"
Her mother replied flatly,
"We don't have money to give you anymore. It would be better if you start earning for yourself now."
Nayza's eyes widened in shock.
"W-Why… is everything okayy mom?"
But before she could say anything else—
The call disconnected.
Complete silence filled the apartment.
Nayza stood there frozen, still holding her phone tightly in her hand.
Tears slowly started falling from her eyes.
For a few moments, she couldn't even move.
Then she quickly wiped her tears and whispered to herself shakily,
"No… I need to talk to them. What if something happened with them"
She immediately called back.
But the call didn't connect.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Nayza kept trying while crying helplessly, but the call never went through. Her breathing slowly became unstable.
Then suddenly, a terrifying thought hit her.
"Did they… block my number?" Her voice trembled badly. "What am I supposed to do now…? I don't understand anything anymore…"
Tears kept falling nonstop from her eyes. "My exams are only a few months away… And now suddenly all of this is happening…"
Then, Nayza checked the money she had saved, she realized it was enough to manage until university ended.
So the problem wasn't only about money.
Her chest started hurting again.
This time, things felt much harder.
It felt like her parents had completely cut ties with her.
The thought alone kept making her cry.
A heavy pain spread through her chest while countless thoughts filled her mind.
"Am I really all alone now…?"
"Will my parents never meet me again?"
"Am I… a girl without parents now?"
Tears continuously rolled down her face.
No matter how much they hated her, she still didn't want them to completely break their relationship with her.
That thought hurt her more than anything else.
Without thinking properly, Nayza quickly started packing her things to go back home.
And then, the next day Nayza reached her house, it was already evening.
She stood in front of the door for a few seconds before slowly pressing the doorbell.
After waiting for a while, the door finally opened. But instead of her parents. An unfamiliar woman stood there.
The woman looked at her in confusion. "Who are you? And what do you want?"
Nayza froze for a moment, then she immediately asked, "This is my house… what are you doing here?"
The woman looked confused now. "I bought this house. How is it yours?"
For a second, Nayza felt her heartbeat stop. But somehow, she controlled herself and quietly asked, "When did you buy it?"
"A week ago," the woman replied casually.
Nayza slowly nodded, trying hard not to break down in front of her.
Then she asked softly,
"The people who used to live here before… where are they?"
The woman shook her head.
"I don't know."
Nayza lowered her gaze.
"Okay… thank you for telling me."
Then she slowly turned around and started walking away.
Tears silently rolled down her cheeks while countless thoughts filled her head.
At that moment, a car suddenly stopped in front of her.
The window rolled down, and a familiar woman looked at her in surprise.
"Nayza? After so long?"
For the first time since arriving there, a small sense of hope appeared inside her.
It was her neighbor aunt.
Her aunt brought her inside the house and made her sit down.
While placing snacks in front of her, she asked gently,
"Dear, what happened? Why did you suddenly come here?"
The moment she heard that warmth in her voice, Nayza lowered her head and started crying.
Her aunt immediately hugged her tightly.
"Tell me what happened. I'm here."
Nayza cried softly against her shoulder. "My parents left me…"
Then she looked up desperately.
"Do you know where they are?"
Her aunt sighed sadly.
"I knew they didn't treat you properly… but I never thought they would leave you behind and go away with their son."
Nayza instantly looked at her in shock.
"Son?"
Her voice trembled. "My parents don't have any son… I don't have a brother."
Her aunt looked surprised, "What…? They never told you?"
Nayza's eyes slowly filled with tears again. "Told me what…?"
Her aunt spoke carefully now.
"Your younger brother is almost two years old. After you left this place, around seven or eight months later, your mother gave birth to him."
Nayza felt completely frozen hearing that.
[Nayza's parents were very young. Her father was seventeen and her mother was fifteen when they got married. It was a love marriage, and both families were extremely wealthy. The very next year after their marriage, Nayza was born.]
Nayza couldn't even process what she had just heard.
Her aunt continued quietly,
"Your mother once told me she really wanted a son."
Nayza stayed silent for a few seconds before asking softly,
"Do you know where they went?"
Her aunt shook her head sadly.
"Your mother only told me they were moving to another country… but she never told me which one. I'm sorry, beta. That's all I know."
It felt like everything around Nayza suddenly stopped.
Like her entire world had shattered at once.
She didn't say anything after that.
Didn't cry, didn't react. She simply stood up quietly… and walked away.
On the other side, Nayza hadn't come to university that day.
Leera had called her, Doruk had sent messages, and after classes ended, all of them decided to go meet her together.
Doruk, Leera, and Yesir went to Nayza's apartment, but she wasn't there.
The apartment was locked.
All three of them became confused and worried.
"Where did Nayza suddenly go without telling us anything?" Leera asked quietly.
They were all worried about her.
Yesir tried calming everyone down.
"Let's wait until tomorrow. Maybe she went somewhere for some important work and didn't get time to tell us."
Leera stayed silent, still feeling uneasy.
After some time, Doruk quietly left from there, but deep inside, he kept waiting impatiently for tomorrow to come.
Meanwhile, Leera still looked disturbed.
Seeing her like that, Yesir softly said,
"Don't worry this much. I'm here with you."
Leera sighed quietly. "I know… but there's something different about Nayza."
She lowered her gaze.
Her expression slowly became sad, then she looked at Yesir again.
"You know, right? Nayza is the only real friend I still have. Before her, I could never really make friends."
Yesir gently held her hand. "Don't be scared. She'll come back."
But Leera still looked worried. "I'm scared that maybe… she left us."
Yesir immediately comforted her softly until she calmed down a little.
Later, he dropped her home.
As he was about to leave, Leera suddenly stopped him.
"Yesir… don't go tonight."
Yesir looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Leera spoke quietly,
"There's nobody at home. I don't want to stay alone tonight… please don't leave me alone."
Hearing that, Yesir's expression softened emotionally.
"Okay," he said gently. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with my Leera… with my love."
And that night, the two of them stayed together.