"Do you remember the woman in this picture?" Daniel passed her the iPad to Hidayah. Hidayah studied the woman in the picture.
"She looks familiar. Someone from school, I think," Hidayah responded.
"That is Anna Liu. And yes, she is someone you knew from boarding school," Leoneil responded. "Her maternal family is from THE Lee family."
"Starlight," Hidayah stared at the picture again. It looks like the Lee family is making use of Anna to do the dirty work.
"Hid, can we still trust Brandon?" Erika asked.
"Unequivocally. His family have been loyal to our family for generations, so I do not think he will backstab us like this." Hidayah responded. "Leo, send me the details, I will handle this from here."
"No!" Hidayat opposed. "You stay here quietly and recover first. Let me handle this. This is final, Hidayah Loh Mei Ling!" he vociferated and walked out of the room.
Hidayah and the group of friends were taken aback with Hidayat's behaviour. "Anston, please chase him! Don't let him do something stupid and hurt himself..." Hidayah looked towards Anston and plead. Hidayah knew that Hidayat would not be thinking straight when handling this especially when he is angered.
For a man who was always calm and rational, he seldom let his emotion play out. However, when his anger is way above his rationality, he is like the Yama of Hell. Daniel and Anston hurried out of the room to pursue after Hidayat.
Erika drew closer to Hidayah and hugged her. Hoping the hug will ameliorate her.
**********
"Hidayat! Wait!!" Anston pulled Hidayat's hand. Daniel and Anston had managed to chase after Hidayat in the underground carpark. Daniel was catching his breath and panting hard. They were unable to catch the lift so they had to rush down the stairs.
"Let me go, Anston! I'm gonna wipe the whole Lee family out!" Hidayat tried to pull his hand free. But Anston's grip on him was so forceful, he could not free himself. He tried to push Anston away but Daniel clinched him from behind and kneed his popliteal fossa.
"Fine! But not like this, Hidayat! You will only make Hidayah worried like this! We will work together on this, okay? Remember what your father taught you?" Daniel interjected.
"Hidayat, take a deep breath, Hidayat… Remember what your father always says? Know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction and hardship with ease… So, be patient! Let's work out a plan before you proceed, okay?" Anston sounded.
"Astaghfirullahaladzim… astaghfirullahaladzim… astaghfirullahaladzim…" Hidayat stopped struggling. His body weakened and staggered. Luckily, Daniel was still holding on to him, if not, Hidayat would have fallen.
A/N: Astaghfirullah literally translates to "I seek forgiveness in Allah". In a religious way, people can recite it during meditation or say it to others to show humility- to say that Allah is greater or that goodness comes from Allah. In popular culture, people can say this if they see something wrong or shameful (Urban Dictionary). In this scenario, Hidayat is reciting the word in his attempt to remind himself to calm himself down and also in the embarrassment of losing himself to anger.
"Have you cooled down?" Daniel asked while patting on Hidayat's back. Hidayat nodded but Daniel could hear a soft whimper. For now, all they could do is to let Hidayat get a grip of himself.