Scarphase

Siegfried glanced at Blaze, a man that is two years younger than him – he is now thirty-two years old – whom his mom brought twenty minutes ago. But unfortunately, his mother left them both with an extraordinarily awkward atmosphere. He refocused on his cellphone, pretending he was texting with his co-workers. Well, eighty percent of people will do it if it feels awkward.

So, he is one of the eighty percent. But unfortunately, the man with the surname Schift in front of him was part of the other twenty percent.

Blaze took a deep breath and tugged at the wrist of his shirt to look at his watch. "Can we end this meeting now, Mr. Lowell? I think you're busy with your work," he said, suddenly breaking the silence that was greeted by Siegfried's gaze.

Well, why didn't you tell me that earlier? Siegfried muttered in his heart.

"I will tell my sister that you are not interested in this matchmaking. Then there should be no next meeting. Good afternoon," Blaze said again. And without waiting for the man's reaction, he immediately left the luxurious restaurant.

Siegfried sighed and typed a message.

Mom, it did not end well. This matchmaking is unacceptable to me. Seriously!

*****

"How was the meeting?" asked Jae, one of Blaze's co-workers at the law firm. Well, Blaze Schift is a lawyer who is quite famous at the age of only thirty.

He took off his jacket and loosened the black tie that was wrapped around the collar of his white shirt. "Not fun. He was only busy on his phone for twenty minutes until I finally decided to leave."

"So the matchmaking failed?" guess Jae.

He took a deep breath and sat on a sofa. Jae followed him to sit on the other sofa. "It seems so. After all, he wasn't really interested in marriage. It seems that the decision to replace my sister to meet that person was the right one," he said.

"Well, Siegfried Lowell is indeed a busy person. He might prefer to be single for life and take care of his family's business," Jae commented.

Blaze snorted. "Tch, really? Then what about his family, who constantly do matchmaking? Ah, it seems that marriage is only for procreation. For bringing up an heir into this world."

Jae shrugged his shoulders. He doesn't really understand the business world, like heirs or anything like that. He then got up and looked closely at Blaze. "Well, if your sister's marriage fails this time, wouldn't it be better if you got married first? You and Hailey have been dating for a long time, haven't you? You have no intention of proposing to her, or what?"

"Think about yourself, Jae Legarda," said Blaze, irritated.

Jae then walked out of Blaze's room, leaving the man with his own thoughts. Then Blaze got up and walked to his desk. He opened a drawer and took out a wooden box.

He smiled at the box. "Well, maybe that's how it should be."

*****

Cameron hissed, annoyed at seeing Siegfried's behavior and seeming not to hear his words. The co-worker, as well as his cousin, chose to occupy himself with a pile of documents. "You did hear me talking, didn't you?" nagged the man in the end.

Siegfried replied with a mumble. In fact, the man did not intend to look at his cousin. Cameron really gets annoyed by him. Hah, maybe Stephani should just talk to Siegfried and not him. "If you were listening, what did I just say?"

Siegfried stopped reading his documents. He looked up and stared at Cameron intently.

"Essentially, you're only talking about me having to get married soon, why I always fail at arranged marriages, and having children. Stop it, Cameron. How about you get married first, oh?"

"Hell yeah. If only it could be like that. But you know the rules, Siegfried Lowells. After Yvan, then Stephanie, then you, me, Jennie, and finally Tyler. It's been six years since Stephanie got married. And the only man who bears the surname Lowells is you," said Cameron.

Siegfried sighed in annoyance. "So just because I'm the only man Lowells, then I have to get married right away? If what they think is the heir, then Yvan is the most entitled. He even has two children already."

"Well, indeed. Unfortunately, the Hernandez family would not agree on that. You know exactly how Hern Company is, don't you? Stephanie is also not the right choice. The Tuviera family is so… ah, I don't know. They kept asking their son to take Stephanie to China and live there for good. So, the choice is only you, Siegfried Lowells," Cameron explained.

Siegfried glared. "Didn't you ask for your rights as a member of Lowells? Then what about Tyler, eh? Maybe he's still in college, but he's also a Lowells after all."

"We may also be a part of the Lowells, but we're still not the real Lowells – you know what I mean, Sieg. Stephanie, you, and Jennie are lucky enough to bear the surname. And shouldn't you, as a son, have to take responsibility for your family?" Cameron said.

Siegfried hissed in annoyance again. "Don't talk about it anymore, Cameron. I still have a lot of work to do, so can you leave my room? I need to concentrate."

Cameron looked at his cousin seriously for a few minutes, then turned around and walked out of the big room.

Sigefried sighed as the door to his room closed tightly. His focus returned to the document in front of him, and he tried not to remember what the man always said.

Well, if only he could do that. And if only it were that easy.

*****