Chapter 15: Chapter 15

"It's a father's duty to give his sons a fine chance."

-George Eliot-

***

A cup of tea was placed on the sturdy mahogany desk in Archard Desroches' in house office. The old house servant had asked him if he needed anything else. On a normal occasion, he would gladly ask for something else, but that day he thought he had enough of service. He raised his hand to dismiss her and she left the room without uttering any other words.

The Desroches mansion was full of silent that day. Everyone was outside on the weekend except for Archard Desroches. The old man had gone through papers after papers and it had only been lately which he explored different methods using his computers.

Back in the day whenever he wanted to buy the latest profitable stocks in the market he had to go through several procedures, but thanks to the advancement of technology, he was able to expand his empire at a touch of his fingertip.

Literally. Many who was familiar with him had been calling him an obsessed man. They said he was too much of a workaholic, but Archard knew better than to listen to them. If he was not obsessed with his work, if he was not obsessed in what he did, he would have never been able to have the comfort he had.

The more productive you are, the more you are unable to stop working, he was aware of this and he embraced it. Besides, as of lately had nothing else to do, why not finish the work earlier so he could spend time with his wife later on when she came home from her shopping spree.

For a man his age, Archard was still rather good looking, he was definitely more muscular than most older men out there. It was mostly thanks to his proper eating habits and his pilates obsessed wife who always dragged him to the gym along with her twice a week. He also happened to age well, supporting a short white beard and classic pompadour hair in the same shade.

Most would call him a hot grandpa, but of course, he only had eyes for his one and only wife, because Darline herself was still a beauty queen in her fifties. The two couple truly stood a stand against time.

While sipping on his cup, he clicked on the very last bit of his work and closed his laptop. Stretching his body, he turned outside where he could see the view of the city, he took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles. He contemplated on life a little bit, he felt a sudden rush of gratitude flown through his body. Right, he remembered how long it took for him to even have that view.

The sacrifices he had made in his youth, the sleepless nights and hours of work he had done. The amount of rejection he had faced, all of those had made him the man he was. Right when he was about to go back to work, he heard a clicking sound from the door, turning his body around, he saw the face of his son smiling as he leaned on the door side.

What a rare sight. As of lately Raphael barely even bothered to call him, he was more of a mama's boy since he was young and was not really close to his father. It was mostly due to the hours of work he spent which made him unable to stay at home for the vast majority of the time. Still, both of them had each other's best interest at heart.

"Bonjour, Papa, comment ça va aujourd'hui?"

He stepped into the room and made himself feel comfortable. His father's office style was an exact opposite of his, his father was rather old fashioned, most of the interiors inside the place were vintage luxury items made in the 19 and 20th century, while Raphael's style was a lot more modern and contemporary. Despite the differences they shared the same fashion gene in their blood, which was why both of them were equally as stylish according to their own time.

Raphael was not the kind who would give his father a sudden visit, this made Archard wondered if he had something in his mind he wanted to tell him. He was definitely correct about it.

Raphael sat down across him and asked him how he was, Archard however was not someone who would beat around the bush, he had hit the bull's eyes before Raphael even got in the middle of his bush. Yet as direct as he was, he did not want to embarrass his own son by asking the question directly, so he brought the conversation away from the babbling Raphael was making and pointed out a true concern he had been having. He was a bit worried about him because his son had yet to ever introduced a woman to him or his family. Archard was simply getting impatient.

"Son, now you are 26, don't you think it is time for you to find someone and get married already? I am not getting any younger, what if I die before you find a proper woman? You are my son and successor, I am worried about you and so is your mother" Raphael did not expect his father to bring up the topic. Initially he had come with an intention of introducing him to Clara, and he had spin his head quite a bit to find ways on doing it righteously without giving him any wrong impression, and the most difficult part was always how to start the conversation. Since Archard brought up the topic first

"Papa, do you remember Clara, the vintner's daughter from Bordeaux?' Archard paused and tried to dig back into his memory. There was only one vintner from Bordeaux whose daughter he had ever seen, it must be a Bellavance. Of course he did, remembered the girl as a soft delicate girl with a bright smile, she was polite and fun loving, on top of that she was also highly beautiful, she was simply stunning, how could he forget such a face.

"Yes, I do remember, why bring her up all of a sudden?" Raphael smiled.

"You see, I have found a woman I am willing to marry." He paused and took a deep breath.

"And that person is Clara Bellavance." Archard was a bit stunned by his son's statement. He who never showed any interest in women before was declaring a marriage plan to him. He should have known it was coming sooner or later. After all, heard Raphael were visiting Bordeaux as of lately, he did not think much of it at first, because what are the odds that an 18 years old would remember someone from his past to such degree, but it all made sense, he should have counted the possibility that he might have visited the same place from eight years ago.

He was excited and happy to hear the news, he was on a really good term with the Bellavance, it would be a delight to have someone as charming as Clara as a part of their family. Still, Despite his approval for Clara, something bothered Archard's mind. Having a large board of connection, He was aware that there was someone who was really interested in his son, the daughter of Thierry Devergie, Jovanna.

News had it that she frequently visited Raphael and often brought expensive gifts for him, which was extremely unnecessary, because his son lacked absolutely nothing, not only that, Archard had silently noticed that on every parties and gathering, she would do her best to stand by Raphael side, even if she herself was not aware of her own gestures.

It was too obvious that she was in love with Raphael, he would go as far to say she was a bit obsessed with his son. Her father, Thierry himself was a really powerful man, who owned a large portion of some major companies in Europe including his own, and he was famous for always spoiling his only daughter with everything she wanted.

Originally, Archard planned to arranged the two together as a couple, which might strengthen his position and relationship with the family, but then it was clear Raphael had had someone else on his mind.

"My son, maybe you are just infatuated, you have only seen her twice." Raphael huffed. He was sure his father was mocking him. He was well aware of his own feelings. He was definitely not mistaken. He had wanted her for so long, it was more than a mere infatuation.

He was not going to accept defeat, and gave his father reasons why he truly loved her the two talked about love for the first time, which was a topic rarely brought up in the family, for an hour straight, eventually, he managed to convince his father that he was serious.

Archard Desroches knew his son was equally as stubborn as he was, the genetic template, once he made up his mind, he would not change it even if he was to use force. Clara was not a bad candidate either, at least she was better than most of the gold diggers who had chased him in the past.

Crossing his legs, he steeped his fingers together forming a triangle while leaning his shoulder forward.

"Then you should at least bring her to meet us, we want to know what she looks like now. Besides, if she is still in Bordeaux, how can you two connect with each other?" Raphael smirked cunningly at his father's favor.

"About that, actually, I brought her here, she is staying at my house with me." Ah. So that's that. Archard leaned back on his chair and laid his fingers on his temple. His son had really changed in such short period of time.

Archard thought Raphael had lost his mind, bringing an unmarried woman from the countryside to stay with him. Modernization had allowed such open practices everywhere, but for people of the high society who still held on to conservative point of view, Archard had a sense of discomfort at the thought, of course, his son was an adult who could hypothetically do anything he wanted, including staying with a woman, heck, he would not even care if he slept with ten of them, but Clara was a daughter of a friend, had anything bad happened to her, he himself would feel terrible about it.

Still, Archard did not want to restrain his son from what he could and could not do, after all he was mature enough to know the differences of good and evil himself and for him to think and take actions of his own, lest anything happened, it would be his own responsibility.

"But what about your mother, when are you going to tell her about it?" Raphael paused his lips for a second to think.

"Well, I will find a time." He spoke with confidence.

Archard had nothing else to say but to wish his son the best. He tapped his shoulder, the two had met a mutual understanding toward each other which was a relief for Raphael. He was confident that his mother would also like her.

He excused himself and left the room feeling all relieved and excited.