That morning, Naila headed to work with her mind still crowded with all kinds of thoughts. She had barely been able to sleep the night before after finding out that Ardi had secretly paid the down payment on Lala's laptop using her name without asking for permission first. It wasn't the amount of money that disappointed her, but the fact that her opinion was no longer considered important. Whenever Ardi's family needed something, everyone seemed to assume that Naila's bank account belonged to all of them and could be used whenever they pleased without asking.
That feeling still lingered when she arrived at the office.
But unlike the increasingly suffocating atmosphere at home, the small Nexora office looked more lively than usual. Several employees were busy discussing things in front of their computers, while Mr. Rudi paced back and forth with a stack of documents, his face unable to hide his excitement.
The moment he saw Naila arrive, the middle-aged man went straight over to her.
"Ms. Naila, I've been waiting for you."
There was something in his tone that made Naila curious as well.
"Is this about the project report?" she asked as she set down her work bag.
Mr. Rudi nodded quickly. "And I think you need to see the results for yourself."
They immediately entered the small meeting room, which over the years had been used more often to plan survival strategies than to celebrate achievements. For years, nearly every financial report discussed in that room had contained loss figures, cuts to operating expenses, or plans to find additional funding so the company wouldn't completely collapse.
Because of that, when Mr. Rudi placed the latest report in front of her, Naila read it with fairly low expectations.
But the longer her eyes moved across page after page, the harder it became for her to hide her shock.
Their first project had gone far better than initially expected.
They had met every target requested by the client on time, user satisfaction was above ninety percent, and most importantly, the client had sent an official evaluation letter stating that they wanted to explore a long-term partnership.
Naila read that section twice to make sure she hadn't misunderstood.
"So they were really satisfied?" she asked.
"More than satisfied," Mr. Rudi replied with a broad smile. "They've even asked our team to prepare a proposal for their next project."
For the first time that morning, the weight pressing on her chest since the night before felt a little lighter.
She still remembered Nexora's condition when she first bought sixty percent of the company several years ago. At the time, most people thought it was only a matter of time before the company went completely bankrupt. Many clients had left, investors had pulled out, and its stock price had fallen so low that almost no one was interested in buying it.
Some people had even openly said that Naila's money would simply go to waste.
But she had taken the risk anyway.
Not because she was reckless, but because she had seen something no one else had. Beneath the loss reports and piles of problems, Nexora still had a competent team and a product that was actually quite good. All they needed was a chance to rise again.
Today, that chance was beginning to bear fruit.
Mr. Rudi then turned the laptop screen toward her and opened the company's latest financial chart.
"I deliberately saved this part for last," he said.
Naila studied the chart for several seconds before realizing what she was looking at.
The red line that had dominated the financial reports for years was slowly beginning to turn upward.
It wasn't very high yet.
It wasn't enough to make Nexora a major company.
But for the first time in a long while, the figure at the bottom of the report showed something that almost felt impossible.
A profit.
The room suddenly fell silent.
Mr. Rudi let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.
"I've been waiting for this moment for almost five years, Ms. Naila."
Naila gave him a faint smile. She could understand how he felt. Not many people stayed when a company was on the brink of collapse. Many had left when things got difficult, but Mr. Rudi had chosen to remain and help build everything from the ground up alongside her.
That was why this first profit meant more than the amount itself.
It was proof that all their hard work hadn't been in vain.
By noon, news of the project's success had begun to spread. Several prospective clients contacted the office to request presentations, while two investors who had previously refused to work with them began showing interest again.
The change in atmosphere was unmistakable.
They used to be the ones chasing clients everywhere. Now, several parties were starting to come to them instead.
As the workday was nearing its end, an email arrived at the company's official address.
At first, no one thought it was anything special—until Mr. Rudi opened it.
A few seconds later, the man shot up from his chair.
"Ms. Naila... I think you need to see this."
Naila took the laptop he held out to her and began reading the email.
The longer she read, the faster her heart began to beat.
The email was from one of the largest construction companies in their city. The company was well known for frequently handling projects worth tens to hundreds of billions of rupiah.
And what nearly left Naila speechless was the content of the invitation.
The company had officially invited Nexora to participate in the bidding process for a project worth ten billion rupiah.
For a moment, Naila could only stare at the laptop screen without saying a word.
Outside the room, the employees continued working as usual. No one realized that the simple email that had just arrived might become the biggest turning point in Nexora's history.
Because if they managed to win the project, it wouldn't just change the company's financial situation.
Naila's entire life would change along with it.