Dimas's message was still displayed on Raka's phone screen.
“I need startup capital, Bro. We're already having trouble making ends meet!”
Raka rubbed his face.
It had only been a few months since they finally felt like they could breathe a little easier.
Now a new problem had arrived. His younger brother, who had been indifferent toward him for the past few years, had suddenly sent him a message.
Raka typed a reply.
“How much do you need to start the business?” Raka asked.
The message was read immediately.
A few seconds later, Dimas replied.
“Fifteen million.”
Raka nearly dropped his phone.
“Fifteen million?”
Naila, who was arranging pastry boxes, turned toward him.
“What is it?”
Raka handed her the phone.
Naila read the message.
Her expression immediately changed.
“Fifteen million?”
Raka nodded.
“Where are we supposed to get that kind of money? We can barely cover our own business expenses.”
Naila read Dimas's message again.
“I want to open a laundry business. I already have the place. I just need to buy the machines and equipment.”
Raka sighed.
“He thinks we just inherited a fortune. We still rent our house, and he's asking us for that much startup capital.”
Naila said nothing.
She went back to putting pastries into the boxes.
But from her expression, Raka knew her mind was working hard.
“Raka, how much do we have in savings right now?”
Raka took a small notebook from the drawer.
“If we set aside the rent, grocery money, money for baking ingredients, and the kids' kindergarten enrollment fee later, we'd have about seven million left. I thought Dimas might ask for five hundred thousand or a million in startup help. Who would've thought he'd name an astronomical amount instead? An amount that even we hadn't seen in several years.”
They fell silent.
Fifteen million.
Even if they had that much money, Raka wasn't sure he would give it to him.
Not because he didn't love Dimas.
But because he knew what it felt like to live without anything to fall back on. He still remembered what it was like to have no money at all.
That afternoon, Dimas came over.
He came with his wife, Selvi.
As soon as he entered, Dimas's eyes swept across the entire house.
Selvi's gaze stopped at the new gas oven.
“Wow... your business has really grown, huh? You even have a nice oven now?”
Naila smiled politely.
“Thank God,” she replied.
“So you must be getting a lot of pastry orders now, right?”
“Not bad.”
Selvi then noticed several boxes of baking ingredients.
“You two must have a lot of money by now.”
Raka, who was sitting in the front room, immediately looked at her.
“We're still struggling, Selvi. We're still barely getting by. We even still rent our house.”
Selvi smiled.
“Ah, don't sell yourselves short.”
Dimas sat down on a plastic chair.
“So, Raka, what do you think?”
Raka knew what he meant.
“I've already told Naila.”
Dimas looked at Naila.
“Naila, I only need the initial capital.”
Naila set a glass of tea in front of him.
“Have you really prepared everything for the business?”
“Yes.”
“Have you surveyed the location?”
“Yes.”
“Have you calculated the operating costs?”
Dimas nodded quickly.
“All of it.”
Raka looked at him.
“If you've already done the math, why do you need to borrow fifteen million from us?”
Dimas fell silent.
Selvi immediately spoke up.
“Because you two have already started a business, so you must be able to help us,” she replied.
Raka frowned.
“Starting a business doesn't mean we have a lot of money for you two to take, Dimas and Selvi.”
Selvi gave him a thin smile.
“Raka, we're not asking for it for free.”
Dimas nodded.
“Yeah. I'll pay it back once my business takes off.”
“When?”
Dimas fell silent again.
“Look, Dimas, Selvi. If you were asking for capital for a small business, Naila and I might be able to help. But a business like a laundry? How can you ask us for help when our own business is still this tiny?” Raka said.
“So you don't want to help?” Dimas asked.
“It's not that I don't want to help, Dimas. We just don't have as much money as you're asking for,” Naila replied.
“Fine. If you don't have as much as I asked for, then how much do you have? Give it to me,” Dimas said.
“Exactly. Whatever money you two have, Naila, Raka—let us use it as capital,” Selvi chimed in.