Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four
Ahmet's finger hovered again, then settled on the last photograph pinned to the board.
He didn't touch it at first. He had just stared.
The girl in the picture couldn't have been more than twelve. Her hair was pulled back too tightly, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and defiance as she trained. Beneath it were older photos of the same face but at thirteen, fifteen, and seventeen. The changes were subtle at first, then undeniable. The soft roundness of childhood giving way to sharp edges. Awareness. Control.
And then it stopped.
There were no adult photos of her, he confirmed.
Ahmet's gaze shifted sideways, scanning the rest of the board again, just to be sure. Other women had timelines too. Childhood photos followed by gaps, then adulthood. Some showed faces hardened by time, others hollowed by it. Two in particular had full progressions; girlhood to womanhood… each stage documented like a record that never let go.
