Chapter 63

——————Los Angeles International Airport, California.

—————————Next morning, 7:00am Sunday morning.

" Zarah you should head to your home, come to work tomorrow by 9:00am" I said as I hurriedly walked out of the airport. I had enough sleep in the plane and all I needed to make my breath fresh were some mints, I could take a bath later on. " Okay sir, Mother you should go with Sophia, make sure Brandon is okay" I said to mother. My car was ready for me and the company van was going to take Mother and Sophia to our family house.

Sophia was already here. " Zarah, you can follow us, we can drop you off at your place"

" uh ma'am don't worry it's fine"

" Don't be shy come on let's go" Mother insisted until she finally agreed and the driver helped them place their luggage in the trunk.

" Khalid" I heard Sophia call as I walked with Mother to the van. She got down from the passenger seat so we could talk." How are you?" She asked as she hugged me a bit. " I'm okay"

" Are you sure?" She asked and I nodded. " How was Malaysia and Faryah and my niece, how're all of them?, did you get to meet to her family?"

" well yes? They're all fine hopefully, and I only got to meet her Mother, Mother is going to tell you about all that later on" I answered and she smiled a bit. " Khalid, don't you think it's miss Hae Soo that's behind all this?" Sophia whispered to me as she moved me away from the car. " I'm sure she's the one, it's going to be hard to catch her, we don't have any lead, nothing, the police didn't find her throughout all this time and now she's back to get us"

" why's she doing all this?"

" are you honestly asking me this Sophia, her son and one of her workers died because they were supposed to kill Faryah" I said as I remembered the dreadful day. " Faryah is in great trouble, have you called her?"

" I've been trying to contact her but her phone isn't even ringing, I just hope she's fine" I said as I rubbed my face. " You should head to the police station, Ethan is there and he doesn't know what questions to answer the press, you should go and handle them, my husband has no clue on what to do" She was too depressed. " where's Kimberly?"

" she's in the car with Mother" she answered and I sighed. " Look, I'll handle everything, I need all of you to stay close and keep a close eye on each other, I'll be sending bodyguards to each and everyone of you okay?, we need to protect ourselves at all costs, we're in great danger" I said as I held her face by her cheeks. " Sure, let go of me" She said and slid out of my hold.

" Be very careful okay?, and call up Ethan and make sure you call Faryah, we'll go to Father now" Sophia said as she stood on her toes to kiss my forehead. " Sure, take care of yourselves please" I said as I held her hand in mine." sure, bye okay?"

" Bye, be safe" I said as she slid out of my hold and went back to the van. I watched them leave before I drove off the police station.

I really missed my car a lot. I was more comfortable moving around with it. I tried calling Faryah a million times when we landed and I sent her texts but she wasn't getting back to me at all. Deep down I was worried but I knew she was fine and she could handle anything. She was a strong woman.

I dialled up and Ethan and after calling twice, he finally answered. " Dude finally" my phone was connected to the car. " Man, I'm so tired of the press, you're already in LA?"

" Sure, sure, I'm on my way to the police station" I answered. " Do you remember that Korean woman and her husband who was one of our partners?"

" Yeah. Ji Hae Soo"

" Yeah, damn I've been trying to remember her name, I'm sure she's the one behind all of this"

" Of course, it's obvious, did you tell the police about that?"

" Nope, you're going to have to tell them, she's getting revenge on your family"

" so you're disowning your second family now?"

" I'm not"

" Dude you are, we'll talk more when I arrive, I'm almost there"

" Finally, be careful, drive safely"

" Sure wifey"

" Dudeeee" He answered and I cackled loudly. Teasing him always made me feel better. He was the only true friend I had. I loved him very much honestly. He ended the call and I drove my way to the police station as I tried calling Faryah again. She still wasn't picking up.

———————Police station, 8:00am.

I parked my car directly in front of the police station and took ten deep breaths before getting down the car. I could see the many journalists and their cameramen all waiting for me. I got down and walked towards the opening of the police station and I stopped at my heels as the journalists ran to me. " Excuse me sir, Mr Olyster" They all chattered as they approached. I was just going to answer some of their questions and that was it. " Good Morning" I greeted as I put my hands in my coat pocket. " Mr Olyster, we heard you were on a business trip in Malaysia when all the bombs took off" They couldn't even answer my greeting. " Yes I was in Malaysia, I just got back" I answered into their microphones and recorders. I was probably on live.

" Sir, why isn't Mr Brandon Olyster giving a statement?"

" Mr Olyster is facing some personal issues now, it's best if he's not disturbed" I had no right to say anything on Brandon. " Is he sick sir?"

" I am not going to disclose any information on that please"

" Sir, do you have any idea who attacked your businesses?" Another one of them asked again. " I have no idea and that is why I am here to rub heads with the police"

" we heard it was a terrorist attack sir, is it possible you're having a feud with a certain terrorist?" What kind of question was that. They were going to drive me crazy. " That's a funny question but no, all this happened so suddenly and yes it is mysterious. Olyster groups are going to work with the police and military so that all this will be solved and the culprit will be brought to justice" It was time for me to leave these pests. " Sir, how about the casualties and dead victims?, aren't you going to take responsibility?" Ugh. I badly wanted yell " It's not your fucking business" at all of them. " we're definitely going to take responsibility and I think that's all for today, you all have a nice day" I said and walked away from them and they kept on trying to gum to me like chewing gum to a shoe. The police luckily stopped them and I walked into the station to meet Ethan with director Malcolm. He was the one that handled our case last time.

" Khalid" Ethan called as I watched his mouth open and widen. " Ethan, Director Malcolm, Good morning" I greeted as I shook hands with the both of them. " Morning, We're glad you're finally here, I'm going to be handling this case still but this time we're going to be working with the military" Director Malcolm replied after I greeted them. " we're working with the military because apparently it is a terrorist attack" Ethan added

" It is, child traffickers and drug traffickers, owners of cartels are regarded as terrorists Mr Valentine, and we're dealing with the Green Viper here" Director Malcolm answered and I nodded. " Weren't there any CCTV footages that could help us?"

" None, in all the countries, the cameras were disabled" Of course. " No traces?" I asked again.

" Nothing to lead to us to the Green Viper" He answered and I sighed. " She has probably joined forces with one of her partners, the police raided her hideouts right?"

" Yes that's right, we're going to do our best in finding her, you should give us your statement Mr Olyster" Director Malcolm said as we walked further into the police station" Sure I'll do that"

" Right now, we're looking for cctv footage from all the streets that lead to your various warehouses in each country for any suspicious activity"

"Okay sir" we answered as I sat down on a chair in front of a police officer. "The police will ensure you and your family's safety from now on" Director Malcolm added and I gave my statement to the police officer and I left the police station with Ethan.

" So what are we going to do with the casualties and the families of the deceased?" Ethan asked as we walked out of the station. " Well, first schedule a meeting with all the heads of departments tomorrow, by 7:00am okay?, we're going to discuss the number of people we lost and the casualties and we're going to release a budget to cover all of them, for those in LA. We're going to also have to communicate with the head of the branches in the other countries so we can all come up with a budget we will use to compensate them, no matter how much we're going to spend we're going to do that. After we're done with that we're going to have to plan for the reconstruction of the warehouses, we're going to do all these in two months" I answered as we stood beside my car. " Okay then, you have to talk to the entire organization too, all employees" He added and I nodded. " Sure I'm going to, after the meeting tomorrow, the press should be involved as well, we're going to solve all these matters sooner or later" I said as I took a deep breath. " Sure, your father needs medical attention Khalid"

" it's obvious he's not okay" I replied as I tried to call Faryah again. " Who're you calling?"

"Faryah"

" oh why?"

" I need to warn her about all what's happening, if someone is in great danger with miss Hae Soo, she's the one" She was still not picking up. " That's right and your daughter as well, how're they by the way?, have you resolved your issues?"

" Well, all I can say is I'm going to let her move on with her life away from me, I'll sign the divorce papers, so she can be happy" those words were just like thorns casted towards my heart. They honestly broke me. I didn't want to give up, I wanted her in my arms so badly but I couldn't stop her. She was going to win the case at the end of the day." It's for the best man" Ethan said as he hugged me. I could cry on his shoulders. I was holding them in for too long. " Everything is going to be fine Khalid" He added as he patted my back. Hopefully.

——————Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

——————————Edwards residence, 6:30pm, Sunday evening.

"When are you going to call Khalid Faryah?" Khalifa asked as I drank a cup of coffee. Ummah, Abbah, Firdaus, Ummi and Khalifa. We are all sitting beside the table on a round table, enjoying the cool evening breeze. Farouk and Raihanna were going to be back tomorrow. In Sha’a Allah. " well soon" I answered as I looked at Najmah playing with Nanny Aisha. " You should call him up" Abbah answered. "When are you going to proceed with the divorce case?" I didn't want to be reminded about that. I really didn't want to go through all that stress but if it was for the best then fine.

A part of me missed Khalid around me, I wasn't going to lie. I missed him. " Abbah, why not wait until the green viper is caught, he has a lot on his plate already" I answered and he nodded. " yeah she's right, I feel for that boy" Ummi added. Her face reminded so much of Grandpa.

We were at the police station earlier in the morning, they recovered my phone but it was damaged and they tried to look for cctv footage but they were all disabled during the time of the incident. I gave them my statement and they promised to look into the matter. They tried to get finger prints and foot prints but they got nothing. They questioned the security guards also and the neighbours but they all so no one. This was going to be long.

I didn't tell them who I thought the culprit was because I knew they weren't going to take me seriously. I told them about the accent I heard and that it was a female. " They're going to forget about this incident eventually" Firdaus spoke up and we all looked at her. " I think so too, I didn't give them something efficient and they don't have any traces so where exactly do you think they'll start searching from?" I answered and I watched Abbah sigh. " They'll try their best" he answered. " Yeah they will but it will be in vain" Firdaus answered. " you should stay home for a while Faryah" Ummah said and I shook my head. " Ummah, I'm not going to be doing anything, it's best if I go, besides I'm going to tighten the security, I'll be fine In Sha'a Allah" I answered. " Are you sure?" Khalifa asked and I nodded. " well of course" I replied with a smile.

" let me call Khalid up" I said as I took my new phone from the table and got up. I was using a new phone number now, he had probably tried to call me a million times. I dialled his number as I walked around the garden. " Hey Khalid" I said into the phone immediately he answered. " Faryah, oh my I'm so relieved, I've been trying to call you, I thought something happened" I knew it. " well something did happen"

" What?"

" Someone tried to kidnap Najmah last night"

" What!?, How, how is she?" He panicked into the phone. " well she's fine, we're fine, I found a woman with a mask trying to attack me when I got home yesterday, I sprayed her face with insecticide and she got burnt, that's how we escaped" I replied. " a woman?, did you get to see her face?"

" No, but I got to hear her speak, she had a Korean accent"

" She probably works for Miss Hae Soo, you have to be very careful from now on Faryah, we're all in great danger"

" Yeah, I know, I heard what happened to your warehouses, don't you think she's also behind it"

" She's definitely behind it, she's back for revenge" ya Allah. " Yeah, how're you?"

" I'm trying to manage but I'll be fine"

" What's wrong with Papa Brandon?" I asked as I remembered what he said on the television earlier to the press. He was in Los Angeles already. " well we think he's going crazy, what we did to you turned him that way, he's blaming Mother and I for everything and himself as well, guilt is eating the poor man up" I never thought it was going to result to something that horrible. " Wow, that's bad" Very bad. " Yeah I'm on my way to him"

" okay then, be safe okay?" I couldn't help but care. " You too"

" Everything will be fine okay Khalid, your business will be back to normal eventually okay?"

" Hopefully, thank you very much Faryah"

" Anytime" He needed a shoulder to lean on. I was that shoulder. I suddenly felt guilty for leaving him. It was my stupid heart. There was no doubt that he was really suffering. I really hope he finds happiness after all this is over. " Faryah, you won't need to pursue the divorce case in court" My heart sank as I heard those words from him. He was finally going to sign the divorce papers. " I'll sign the divorce papers so you can be happy, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry for how I treated you just cause I was trying to please my selfish heart, I'm sorry" I couldn't stop the tears. I was supposed to be happy right?.

I loved Khalifa and he was the best person for me to spend the rest of my life with right?

He loved me very much and I did too.

Right?

He was going to take care of Najmah and make us all happy right?.

Why was I doubting myself now. I had already made up my mind why couldn't I accept this and feel happy. It was what was best for me.

Right?

I didn't love Khalid anymore. He was annoying, irritating, arrogant and he made lots of horrible mistakes. He was a jerk.

But they were all flaws that hid the Khalid I fell in love with. The nice and loving Khalid.

" Okay" I answered as I tried to fix my cracked voice. " Thank you" I added as I snapped out of my train of thoughts. I needed to control my heart. " I'm glad you found happiness some place else, You being happy is enough for me" He said and my heart broke. Why was it hurting this much?. He heart he scarred was hurting this much and it was longing his love again.

Why were human feelings so confusing. " Thank you very much Khalid"

" You're welcome, I'll send it to the court when I sign so can proceed with your wedding plans, take care of Najmah"

" sure I will"

" Take care of yourselves"

" You too"

" Bye"

" Bye" I answered and he ended the call. All I wanted to do now was cry my heart out but I had to be strong. I couldn't let all of them see me like this. Most especially Khalifa. I was just going to make matters worse.

I was a strong woman.

I could hide my tears, I've been doing that for a while now. My tears weren't going to solve anything but prayers were. Istikhara was my resolve now.

No matter how much it was going hurt me, I was going to have to bear the pain and endure because Allah always gave us the best even if it isn't what we truly desire.