However, the person on the other end of the phone was his biological mother after all, the one who had given birth to him and raised him. Now that his mother had spoken, how could Harry bear to refuse?
After all, it was the grace of raising him! No matter how aggrieved or angry Harry felt, he could only endure it.
"Okay, how much do you want to borrow? I'll co over in the next two days and give you the money," Harry said calmly.
"You... your brother wants to borrow... $400,000 from you..." There was a hint of hesitation in his mother's words, but she said it in the end.
"400,000?! That much? The price of a 65−square−ter house has now risen to around 80,000 to $100,000. If I sell it, it should be enough for a down paynt on a new place, right? Besides, I have a good job—it shouldn't be a problem for to save up a decent amount over the years. How could he be short of so much?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes... it's like this... Actually... your brother resigned last year and started a business with a few friends... This business is very big and has great prospects! But it requires a lot of investnt. At the ti, the family decided to support him, so we sold the house... to fund his venture... Now your brother wants to... buy a 100-square-ter house, and the down paynt must be... $400,000... Your dad and I... all the money we saved before went into his business, and now your dad's health is poor... he can't help anymore. Now... now we can only rely on you... Harry, your parents raised you and never asked you for anything. Now that you're married, you can't just ignore us..."
Mother Flora's tone gradually shifted from pleading to sothing closer to a threat, which only deepened Harry's disappointnt.
Originally, $400,000 wasn't an impossible sum for him. If his parents truly needed it, he would have given it without hesitation.
But…
Why was there a threat in his mother's voice?
Why were his parents so blatantly favoring his brother?
Weren't they both their sons? Why did his brother get endless support while he was treated like an afterthought?
Harry knew a little about his brother Kaden's situation. Though he hadn't been ho in years, he'd kept tabs on his family.
Last year, Kaden had claid to have t so influential people and decided to dive into P2P lending and blockchain. He quit his stable job at the state-owned enterprise—the one their parents had spent their life savings to secure for him—and started a business with a group of wealthy entrepreneurs who drove luxury cars.
At first, Harry had admired his brother's ambition. Maybe he'd really make it big.
But now, to fund this venture, his brother had even sold the house bought with Harry's own betrothal money.
"Mom, what exactly is brother doing now? If he's still in the startup phase, shouldn't he focus on building the business first? He can buy a house later, once he's stable. The kids are still young—wouldn't it be better for him to stay with you and Dad for now? Why the rush?"
Harry kept his tone gentle, trying to reason with her.
It wasn't that he refused to help, but sothing about this situation felt off.
"Harry, what are you implying? That our family doesn't deserve a house? That you won't lend us the money? Do you even still see as your mother? I carried you for nine months, raised you with so much hardship, and this is how you repay ?! You'll buy a luxury car for that Mackerel family gold-digger, but you won't lend your own mother 400,000? You're so rich now—what's 400,000? You're so rich now—what's 400,000 to you?!"
Harry hadn't expected his careful suggestion to trigger his mother's hysterical screaming and sobbing.
He closed his eyes, enduring the verbal lashing.
This was how it had always been. His brother got whatever he wanted, while Harry was expected to sacrifice, to yield, to give without question.
No matter how unreasonable his brother was, he was always right.
No matter how much Harry suffered, he was supposed to just swallow it.
"Mom, that's not what I ant. I just think taking on a mortgage while starting a business adds unnecessary pressure. Once his company takes off, buying a big house—or even a villa—won't be a problem, right?"
Harry took a deep breath, forcing down his resentnt as he tried to explain.
"Your brother... your brother's company is doing very well! Don't worry, we'll pay you back the $400,000 within the year! If you still consider yourself my son, if you still have any respect for , get the money together in the next two days and send it over!"
Flora's demand was relentless, her tone unyielding.
"Fine, Mom. I understand. $400,000 isn't a small amount—just give so ti. I'll co ho in a couple of days, and we'll talk then."
As soon as he hung up, Harry slumped over the steering wheel and broke down in tears.
Years of pent-up frustration and heartache poured out in that mont, his sobs shaking his entire body.
After a long ti, Harry finally cald down the grievances and pain in his heart, frowned and fell into deep thought.
In fact, Harry really wanted to ask his mother what was going on when she said that his father was not in good health.
But he never mustered up the courage to ask, because Harry was very scared. He was afraid that his father didn't want a loser like him to know. He was afraid that his father would scold him again, saying that he didn't need his concern and that he didn't deserve his concern...
Harry picked up his watch and looked at the ti. It was already past four o'clock in the evening. It took more than two hours to get to his ho from here. It would be a bit rushed to go there now.
In addition, Harry always had a bad feeling about his brother Kaden's affairs.
Before leaving, Harry planned to find out more about his brother's situation.
After calming down, Harry picked up his phone again and called a friend he grew up with.
"Hello, Brother Harry!" The call was quickly connected, and an excited voice ca from the other end, "You still rember , your brother? You still rember to call ? When will you be back? Let's have a few drinks together!!"
"Jiren, I was planning to co back one of these two days. What are you doing recently? I heard that you are doing well? Are you working on a big project? You are a big boss now, right?"
Hearing the kind and familiar voice from the other side, Harry imdiately smiled.
"Hey! Don't listen to their nonsense! I'm just a small contractor. You know, my uncle and the boss of our Sentinel Group are comrades-in-arms. They take care of my uncle and give him so projects. My uncle is old now and doesn't want to do it, so he left it to ."
"Jiren, you have to treat us to a al when I co back this ti! We have to get so Red Label! Now that you're a big boss, you and my brothers have to treat us to a al!"
Harry said with a smile. He missed the days when he was in high school and college. Every ti he went ho, he would drink and have dinner with his close friends Jiren, Napier, Jason, and Freddy.
Co to think of it, they haven't been together for almost two years.
After the party on the wedding day, the few of them never saw each other again.
It's not that my forr self didn't want to, but that I felt ashad to see them.
In Harry's hotown, being a live-in son-in-law is a very shaful thing. In addition, Harry is the worst among his best friends, so Harry simply can't muster up the courage to ask his brothers out.
"No problem! Brother Harry, I'll prepare as much Red Label as you want! What date will you be back? I'll say hello to the other brothers and ask them to ask for leave from their wives in advance!" Jiren patted his chest enthusiastically and said loudly.
"It's hard to say now, probably the day after tomorrow. I'll call you before I co." Harry said with a smile.
When Harry heard Jiren's voice, he always felt at peace in his heart. These brothers were like his safe haven and spiritual comfort.
To be honest, Harry missed them!
"Also, Jiren, I haven't been ho for a long ti. I have sothing to ask you. Can you help find out what my brother is doing recently? What about the company he started and how is it doing now?"
After Harry and Jiren chatted for a few more sentences, he got to the point and asked seriously.
"Are you talking about your brother Kaden... Don't you know about this?" Jiren's tone suddenly beca a little embarrassed and awkward.
"Nonsense! You know it, but I'm still asking you. From your tone, you know it? Tell everything you know!"
Harry said bluntly, "Don't hide it from ! This is a serious matter!"
"Ahem... I heard about it as well... A friend of mine in the police station told about your brother's story... Didn't your brother start a business before... Actually... ahem... well... actually he was defrauded... It is said that he was defrauded of more than eight or nine hundred thousand, and he sold his house and still owed a lot of debts... And, your brother still doesn't believe that those people are scamrs...
He insisted on continuing to start a business... I heard that your brother is now saying that he wants to do so cross-border e-comrce or sothing... And, he's looking for people to borrow money every day... Hey... Brother Harry! I heard about it as well! Don't believe it all!"
Jiren said it quite tactfully, as if he was hiding sothing.
After all, Kaden is Harry's biological brother. Jiren heard it from hearsay and did not dare to be too sure, for fear of damaging the relationship between Harry and Kaden.
"I understand." Harry nodded, his expression becoming more serious.
My brother Kaden is a very smart person and his academic performance has always been very good, but he has been spoiled and is very gullible.
He always wants to get rich without working for anything, and he likes to brag and act wealthy. Jiren is a cautious person, so if he can say this, it must be true.
I'm afraid my mother was forced to borrow money from this ti by my brother Kaden.
The purpose is most likely not to buy a house, but to pay off debts!
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