CHAPTER 4

"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 she walked up to the bed to meet her daughter. She was still holding the bouquet of rose flowers in her hands that Charles had given her.

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 didn't like Charles or approve of him becoming your husband, he cannot say no. We were only hoping for your father's rank to be promoted, which is the reason your father sent your photos to them."

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

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

Nancy didn't know that 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 ugly ones, and sent those to her mother.

Nancy then 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's son 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 beside her room window, hurt to think that 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 were the ones ruling over their city, which was why the country was named after the city too.

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, and her mother also approached her and sat 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 Charles was staring at me? With lust clearly written in his eyes — I couldn't even meet his gaze. He looks like a pervert, Mom. And I cannot marry that kind of man who lusts after every woman. No."

Mrs. Olivia laughed, "Hahaha, 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 she had dropped on the bed. She hugged Nancy closely to her chest, petting her only child to stop crying. She said, "It's okay, my angel. Stop crying, okay? It's because you're beautiful — that's why Charles was staring at you like that. I believe he chose to marry you because he likes you. Your father only wanted his rank promoted at first, which was why he submitted your photo for them to have a look. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose yours."

"No, Mom, I don't want Charles. I want to marry a simple man who will love only me, and not a powerful man like Charles," Nancy cried harder, and her mother petted 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 daughter. You know that I don't like to see you crying like this. I really wish 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 didn't get angry with us or refuse to marry you, which shows that he truly loves you and wants you as his wife. That's the reason he chose you — we hadn't seen him here before, until after your return from City X."

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

Mrs. Olivia frowned and replied, "No, Nancy… We hadn't seen Charles here before, since the previous month when he chose your photo. I'm still shocked to see him here today; I don't know who informed him of your return to the city… Maybe he was so eager to see you and meet with you, by 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 daughter. 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 it's title 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 anything about him. Come, let us go downstairs and have our dinner, as it's already getting late."

Mrs. Olivia gently pulled Nancy beside her to follow her downstairs to the dining room, while Nancy sighed, as she didn't have any other option than to go downstairs with her mother.

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

Nancy felt nervous, as she knew that most of the young maids had seen her reaction towards Charles. She sat down nervously in her usual dinner chair and shifted 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 walked up to the dining table to join her mother and her for dinner, but his face was still looking strict, as he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

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

After her dinner with her parents ended, Nancy stood up from the chair, and she 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 that the wedding was in two days' time.

"Two days. How do I escape from this marriage? How do I escape from Charles?" Nancy asked herself, as she stopped pacing about in 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 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 a.m. I need to be ready for this and make an excuse to get there in time, before I miss the flight."

Nancy smiled, immediately purchasing 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 she 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.

—

Meanwhile, Charles arrived home late at night, as his car had had some hold-ups on the city's major roads. He was still living in the heart of the city with his parents, inside the presidential white villa too.

Charles stepped out of his car and walked up towards their mansion frontage. The mansion was a powerful two-storey building, and there were plenty of bodyguards standing around and guarding the mansion premises.

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

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

But just then, his mother stepped out of the kitchen door and smiled at him, as she saw him about 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, and he smiled and walked back to meet her. He hadn't seen her the first time he had stepped into the living room.

Charles wondered who had told his mother that he had gone to see his chosen bride. He knew that his parents had their eyes on him and were monitoring his activities, even without his knowledge.

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