Chapter 4. Mother Petting Her

"No, Father!" Nancy screamed, as her father pulled her room door open and finally exited her bedroom.

She turned to face her mother and begged, "Please, Mom, talk to Dad, I cannot marry that man, I cannot marry Charles."

Mrs. Olivia Marlon sighed, and she finally walked up to the bed to meet her daughter, still holding the bouquet of rose flowers in her hands that Charles had given her earlier.

She said, "I'm sorry, Nancy, I wish that I could speak to your father about this. But you know that your father is working under the AJ Political party group, and even though your father doesn't like Charles nor approve of him as your husband, he cannot say no. We were only hoping for your father's rank to be promoted, which is why he sent your photos to them..."

"Mom..." Nancy stared at her mother's face in shock, tears filling her eyes. She remembered the day her mother had called her when she was at her home in City X, trying to cook.

Her mother had asked her to send her photos, stating that she wanted to use them since she hardly took any photos or posted online.

She didn't know that her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. If she had known, she would have sent an ugly photo to her mother instead.

Nancy finally asked her mother, "Why, Mom? Why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you tell me then that you wanted to send my photo to the Alejandro family for their son to check me out? I could have sent an ugly photo, and then Charles wouldn't have chosen me."

Nancy cried harder, standing beside her room window, hurt by the thought that her parents wanted her to be with Charles.

She pondered how she would escape from Charles now, as she didn't want to marry him. His family ruled over their city, which gave the country its name.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon apologized, "I'm sorry, Nancy, I didn't mean to make you sad."

Nancy walked away from the window to sit down on her bed and cry, and her mother approached her, sitting down beside her on the bed.

Nancy begged, "Please, Mom, I have to escape from this marriage. Dad cannot call it off, and I don't want to marry Charles. Please, Mom, didn't you see the way he was staring at me? Lust was clearly written in his eyes, and I couldn't even meet his gaze. He looks like a pervert, Mom. I cannot marry that kind of man who lusts after everything under a skirt."

Mrs. Olivia Marlon laughed, "No, Nancy, don't say that. I believe that Charles chose you because he truly loves you and wants to marry you."

"No, Mom," Nancy disagreed, but her mother picked up the bouquet of rose flowers that she had dropped on the bed, and hugged Nancy closely to her chest, comforting her only child and urging her to stop crying.

She said, "It's okay, my angel, stop crying. You're beautiful and that was why Charles was staring at you like that. I think that he chose to marry you because he likes you. Your father initially wanted his rank to be promoted, which is why he submitted your photo for them to see. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose yours."

"No, Mom, I don't want him. I don't want Charles. I want to marry a simple man who will love only me, not a powerful man like Charles," Nancy cried harder, and her mother comforted her, "See, Charles even brought you these beautiful flowers to show you how much he truly loves you and wants to marry you. Please stop crying, my angel, I don't like to see you crying like this. I wish that I could help you talk to your father about it. But even after you left us downstairs and ran back here to your room, Charles wasn't angry with us and hasn't rejected the idea of marrying you. This shows that he truly loves you and wants you as his wife. We haven't seen him here before until after your return now from City X."

"No, Mom! I don't want Charles! Who told him that I'm back home in the country? Did you and Dad rush to call him and tell him that I'm finally home?" Nancy asked her mother as she moved away from her mother's embrace, standing up from the bed to see her mother's face. She wanted to know if her mother was lying to her.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon frowned and replied, "No, Nancy, we haven't seen Charles here before, not since the previous month when he chose your photo. I'm still shocked to see him here today. I didn't know who informed him of your return to the city. Maybe he was eager to see you and meet you, to see your pretty face."

"No, Mom..." Nancy said, and her mother stood up from the bed and approached her.

She said, "It's okay, my beautiful angel, stop crying. Your father is right about love growing with time. You should give Charles a chance to get to know him first. Being the President's son isn't easy and comes with enough titles to ruin his reputation and make people judge him wrongly. He might be a nice man now, and you wouldn't know just because he's the president's son. Stop listening to any online gossip about him, and you should get to know him first before you finally judge him. Come, let us go downstairs and have our dinner. It's already getting late."

Mrs. Olivia gently led Nancy downstairs to the dining room, while Nancy sighed, knowing that she didn't have any other option than to follow her mother.

She knew that she couldn't protest at that point, so she silently followed her mother downstairs to the dining room.

Nancy was nervous, knowing that most of the young maids had seen her reaction towards Charles earlier. She nervously sat down at her usual dinner chair, moving her seat closer to the dining table to have her dinner, as she was famished.

Her father stepped out of his private office downstairs and joined her and her mother at the dining table. His face remained strict; he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and continued to eat her dinner with her parents at the dinner table. She was very hungry and thought about how she could escape from Charles's clutch.

After dinner with her parents ended, Nancy stood up from the chair and thanked her parents before retiring upstairs to her bedroom.

She paced about her bedroom after closing the door. She knew that the wedding was in two days.

"Two days. How do I escape from this marriage? How do I escape from Charles?" Nancy asked herself as she stopped pacing around her room. She said, "I really cannot marry that man. Mom and Dad cannot do this to me. I need to escape from Charles, but how?"

Nancy walked over to her bed and sat on it. She picked up her mobile phone and checked for the next available flight back to City X.

She said, "The next flight is tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. I need to be ready for this and make an excuse to get there in time, or I'll miss the flight."

Nancy smiled as she immediately purchased her return flight ticket to City X. She thought about how she would be able to escape from her family.

"No. I really cannot marry that man, so I must leave." Nancy finally stood up from her bed, went to use her washroom, then climbed onto her bed and fell asleep.

****

Charles Alejandro arrived home late at night due to a few hold-ups on the city's major roads. He was still living in the heart of the city with his parents in the presidential white villa.

He got out of his car and walked towards their mansion's frontage. The mansion was a grand two-story building surrounded by plenty of bodyguards.

The mansion was dead silent, its premises neat and exuding an air of excellence.

Charles walked into the living room and made his way towards the staircase to retire to his bedroom, which was on the top floor.

Just then, his mother stepped out of the kitchen door and smiled at him. She had noticed him about to climb the living room stairs.

She called him back, "Charles... Did you meet your chosen bride today?"

"Mom," Charles swiftly turned back to face his mother, smiling and walking back to meet her. He hadn't seen her when he first stepped into the living room.

He wondered who had told his mother that he went to see his chosen bride. He knew that his parents kept a close eye on him, monitoring his activities without his knowledge.

He smiled and walked back to meet his mother, who asked him, "Charles... Isn't she the one? I can see that you're smiling, my son. Isn't she the one from the photo?"