Chapter 2 - His choice

Charles Alejandro was at his hotel when he received the report that his chosen bride had arrived home.

He was eager to see Nancy. His parents had been pressuring him to settle down, as he was their only son and, more likely, the future president. He had many enemies—and inherited ones.

This Thursday morning, Charles had been at his company earlier that morning, before deciding to visit his hotel in the afternoon and spend time with any attractive woman there in the evening.

It was no secret that he loved women. As a powerful man in AJ City, most young ladies knew about his reputation and wanted to get intimate with him.

Charles was a 30-year-old Black man—very attractive, tall, masculine, with short black hair.

His mother wouldn't let him rest. She kept nagging him about marriage and even showed him photos of ladies she had selected for him to choose from. But Charles wasn't interested in any of them; he preferred his promiscuous lifestyle, though his parents were totally against it.

“Charles! You need to stop hosting different ladies and bringing shame to our family. You're the president's son, and you need to act respectable for once. Or how do you feel when almost half the ladies in the city have seen you nàked?” his father asked him in the sitting room on the second floor, where he sat on a black couch.

Charles smiled and replied, “Not half, Father. How could I possibly sleep with almost half of all the pretty ladies here? There are too many for me alone, and you know it.”

Seeing that his father wasn't smiling, Charles knew it was best to turn serious as well.

His father replied, “Then you need to marry, Charles. Or else, I'll seize every right you have and find someone competent to take over my wealth.”

“Hmm...” Charles frowned as his father warned him with blazing eyes and exited the second-floor sitting room to meet his guests.

His mother stepped out of the elevator and walked into the sitting room to join him.

She asked, “Charles... I don't understand why you're afraid of marriage.”

“Hmm, I'm not afraid of marriage, Mom,” Charles replied as he took a cigarette from his trousers' side pocket, lit it, and began smoking.

The truth was that Charles hadn't yet seen any woman he was truly in love with.

To him, most young ladies were cheats and gold diggers. He had seen plenty who wanted to get intimate with him, forgetting they had boyfriends or fiancés.

Charles didn't want a cheap woman as his wife, and finding the right one who matched his ideal had been difficult.

“Then what's the problem, Charles? You haven't accepted any invitation your father or I have offered. Or do you want us to choose a bride on your behalf, marry her, and bring her here for you?” his mother asked.

“No, Mother. I'm not interested in an arranged bride. Most young ladies are cheats and pretentious. Once they see that I want to marry them, they'll pretend to be nice and jump at the offer. So no.”

Charles shook his head, took a drag from his cigarette, and puffed the smoke into the air.

His mother frowned and replied, “No, Charles. That's what happens when you leave a responsible young lady for a promiscuous woman like yourself.”

“Mom...” Charles stared up at his mother's face in shock and shook his head as he met her smiling gaze.

She was a 65-year-old Black woman, standing in front of him in a long blue native gown. She was traditional, too.

First Lady Kira approached Charles, who was seated on the black couch, and said, “Here, Charles. I have photos of three cute women for you to see. You can choose from among them—their families are well respected and aligned with your father's political party.”

“Mom...” Charles couldn't believe his mother was already holding three women's photos to her chest, waiting for the right moment to show them.

She approached him again and held out the photos. “Here, Charles, take a look.”

“Hmm.” Charles accepted the three photos from his mother's hands.

He held his smoking cigarette to his lips. He was wearing a black top, black leather trousers, and black boots—he loved dressing in all black.

Charles stared at the first woman's photo on top. She was cute, a Brown-skinned lady with a round face and flat nose. But her big brown eyes shone seductively in the outdoor photo, where she wore a simple pink crop top and blue jeans.

Charles frowned, keeping the cigarette between his lips as he slid the photo aside to reveal the next one. His eyes fell on a pair of blue eyes.

She was beautiful, with a round face, pointed nose, blue eyes, and rosy dimples on her chubby cheeks.

Her plump lips enticed him, making him want to kiss the photo. Her long, sparkling golden hair glittered, and it made his jaw drop in admiration.

She was wearing a white singlet top in the cute outdoor selfie.

Staring at her bare, slender neck and the top of her slightly exposed bosom, Charles gulped. He felt his muscles harden, wanting to kiss and lick every inch of her beautiful fair skin.

Charles didn't know how long he had been staring, until his mother asked, “Charles. Do you like her?”

“Mom...” Charles snapped out of his trance. He looked at his mother's face and met her smiling gaze.

Charles held back his response as he slid the photo aside to see the last one.

She was beautiful, a fair-skinned young woman, but chubbier than the second lady. She didn't catch his eye or make his heart race like the second photo had.

Charles swiped back to the second photo and handed the other two to his mother. “Who's she, Mom?”

First Lady Kira smiled and replied, “She's Nancy Marlon. Senator Logan Marlon's only child.”

“Hmm...” Charles hummed and finished smoking his cigarette.

His mother said, “I see you like her, Charles. Don't worry—I’ll arrange with my assistant to send the marriage proposal to her family right away and let them know you've chosen to marry their daughter.”

“Okay, Mom, but is she around? I'd like to see her in person. Does she really look like this? You know most young ladies edit their photos to look cute and attractive,” Charles asked, still staring at Nancy's photo.

His mother smiled and replied, “I don't know, Charles, but I'll call her family to find out if she's around. Once she is, we'll proceed with the wedding.”

“Okay, Mom,” Charles said with a smile. He didn't reject the idea of marriage this time.

He wanted Nancy—every fiber of his body wanted her.

Her lips... he wanted to kiss the photo, but he suppressed the urge and let his mother leave first.

Charles stood up from the black couch in the sitting room and went upstairs to his bedroom on the third floor, taking Nancy's photo with him.

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One month later,

Charles went to his luxury hotel over the weekend to see if he could find any attractive lady to distract him from thinking too much about Nancy while awaiting her return to the city.

But none of the pretty, hot ladies he encountered moved his heart or made him want her like he wanted only one woman: Nancy Marlon.

“Boss, our security men embedded in Nancy's father's team just called. They've informed us that your chosen bride has returned to the city and is at her family home right now,” his personal assistant, Dennis Richard, said over the phone.

Charles was in the presidential suite of his luxurious hotel. He replied, “Prepare the car. We're leaving now for her father's mansion.”

“Okay, boss,” Dennis answered.

Charles immediately dismissed the pretty lady who had been pleasuring him with oral sex. He felt irritated—nothing but a desire to meet his chosen bride, the one his heart wanted and needed.

Charles exited the top floor of his luxurious hotel, wearing a black suit with a red inner shirt, and approached his car.

His security men opened and closed the door for him as soon as he got in, and the three cars drove out toward Senator Logan Marlon's residence.