Chapter 4: Mother's Advice

"No father!" Nancy screamed as her father pulled her room door open and 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 Alejandro."

Mrs. Olivia sighed and walked up to the bed to meet her daughter. She still held the bouquet of roses Charles had given her earlier.

She said, "I'm sorry, Nancy. I wish I could speak to your father about this. But you know your father works for the AJ Political Party. Even though your father doesn't like Charles or 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 your father 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 while she was at her home in City X, trying to cook.

Her mother had asked her to send photos, saying she wanted to use them, as Nancy hardly snapped any photos or posted online.

Nancy didn't know her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. If she had known, she would not have snapped beautiful photos but an ugly one, and sent it to her mother.

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

Nancy cried harder as she stood by her room window, hurt to think her parents wanted to trade her off to be with Charles.

She thought of how she would escape from Charles now, as she didn't want to marry him. His family ruled their country, which was also named after their ancestors.

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

Nancy walked away from the window to her bed to sit down and cry. Her mother also approached her on the bed and sat down beside her.

Nancy begged, "Please, Mom, I have to escape 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? With lust clearly written in his eyes. I couldn't even meet his gaze; he looked like a pervert. I cannot marry that kind of man who lusts after everything underneath a skirt to be my husband. No."

Mrs. Olivia laughed, "Hahaha, no, Nancy, don't say that. I believe 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 roses she had dropped on the bed and hugged Nancy close to her chest, petting her only child to stop crying.

She said, "It's okay, my dear. Stop crying, okay? It's because you're beautiful, and that's why Charles was staring at you like that. I believe he chose to marry you because he likes you, and your father only wanted his rank to be promoted, which is why he submitted your photo to them to have a look. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose your photo."

"No, Mom, I don't want Charles Alejandro. I want to marry a simple man who will love only me, not a powerful man like Charles," Nancy cried harder, and her mother petted her.

"See, Charles even brought you these beautiful red flowers to show you how much he truly loves you and wants to marry you. Please stop crying, my daughter, as you know I don't like to see you crying like this."

"I wished I can help you talk to your father about it. But even after you left us downstairs and ran back here to your room, Charles didn't get angry with us or refuse to marry you, showing that he truly loves you and wants you as his wife. That's why he chose you, as we haven't seen him here before until your return now from City X."

"No, Mom! I don't want Charles Alejandro! And who told him I'm already back home in the country? Did you and Father rush to call him and tell him I'm at home?" Nancy asked her mother as she moved away from her mother's embrace. She stood up from the bed to see her mother's face and know if her mother was lying to her or not.

Mrs. Olivia frowned and replied, "No, Nancy. We haven't seen Charles here before, since the previous month that 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 and meet you, seeing your pretty face."

"No, Mom..." Nancy said, and her mother stood up from the bed and walked up to meet her.

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

Mrs. Olivia gently pulled Nancy to follow her downstairs to the dining room. Nancy sighed, as she had no other option but to go downstairs with her mother.

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

However, Nancy felt nervous as she knew most of the young maids had seen her reaction towards Charles. She sat down nervously on her usual dinner chair and shifted it to the dining table to have her dinner as she was famished.

Her father stepped out of his private office downstairs and walked up to the dining table to join her mother and her for dinner, but his face still looked strict, as he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and resumed eating her dinner with her parents at the dinner table. She was hungry and thought of how she would escape from Charles's clutch.

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

She paced about in her bedroom just after she had shut the door. She knew the wedding was in two days.

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

Nancy walked up 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 by 10 am. I need to be ready for this and make an excuse to get there in time, before I miss the flight."

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

"No. I cannot marry that man, so I must leave." Nancy stood up from her bed and went to ease herself in her washroom, before she stepped out and went to her bed to sleep.

She climbed onto her bed and lay peacefully on it as she shut her eyes and slept.

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Meanwhile, Charles arrived home late at night, as his car had a few holdups on the city's major roads. He still lived in the heart of the city with his parents, inside the presidential white villa.

Charles stepped out of his car and walked towards their mansion's frontage. The mansion was a powerful two-story building, and plenty of bodyguards stood around, guarding the mansion premises.

The mansion was silent, and the premises were neat and exuded excellence.

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

But just then, his mother stepped out of the kitchen door, and she smiled at him as she saw him wanting to climb the living room stairs.

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

"Mom," Charles swiftly turned back to face his mother. He smiled and walked back to meet her, as he hadn't seen her the first time he had stepped into the living room.

Charlotte wondered who had told his mother that he went to see his chosen bride. He knew his parents had their eyes on him and monitored his activities, even without his knowledge.

Charles grinned and walked back to meet his mother.

She asked him, "Charles... Isn't she the one? I can see that you're smiling, my son. Isn't she the woman on the photo?"