The day I realized my best friend and I can never do business together again

Two years ago, I convinced my childhood best friend from Akure, Tunde, to put our savings into a fintech startup targeting local farmers. We had known each other since primary school, shared everything, even wore each other's clothes. I thought, what could go wrong?

We hired this developer, a guy Tunde found through his church. The man seemed solid at first. We paid him upfront, big mistake. After three months of building, he vanished. Took the code, took our money, left us with nothing.

The worst part was not the money. It was how Tunde looked at me after. Like I had sold him a dream I knew was fake. We stopped talking for nine months. His mother had to call my mother to beg us to reconcile.

We are cool now, but we don't talk about money. Some things you cannot fix with apologies. Business and friendship, they mix like water and engine oil.