Chapter 5: His Refusal

"Mom..." Charles approached his mother and hugged her. She smiled and said, "Charles... You haven't answered my question yet. I was waiting for you to return home so we could have dinner together as a family."

"Good evening, Mom," Charles greeted her, hugging her close as they walked toward the dining room.

He replied, "She's the one, Mom, and she's very pretty too."

"Hmm," First Lady Kira smiled, staying silent as she watched Charles pull out a dining chair for her. She sat down elegantly and continued watching her handsome son.

Charles sat on the chair beside her right at the dining table. He said, "Mom, Nancy's the one, and she's very beautiful. Where did you see her photo? I do like her."

"Mm," First Lady Kira smiled as she watched the maids step out of the kitchen and approach the dining table to serve her dinner along with Charles's.

They served the delicious meals while President Nolan Alejandro was away at a presidential meeting.

First Lady Kira smiled and replied, "Charles, your father already told some of his cabinet members he was looking for a bride for you. He wanted to know which of them had pretty daughters you might like and choose from."

"Thanks, Mom. I do like Nancy, but..." Charles's words trailed off as he remembered how Nancy had run away from him.

His mother asked, "But what, Charles?"

First Lady Kira frowned as she watched her only son acting nervously. She waited for the maids to finish serving dinner and leave, before asking again, "Charles... Do you want us to cancel the wedding? It's in two days, and you cannot embarrass your father and me in public or in front of all our prominent guests."

"I know, Mom, but the truth is Nancy ran away from me when I went to welcome her home at her family house." Charles shook his head in embarrassment and covered his face with both palms as he remembered how Nancy had fled. But the way her hips had swayed seductively stayed in his mind.

Charles smiled, unaware his mother was glaring at him. She wasn't finding his revelation funny at all.

She snapped, "What? Charles, how dare Nancy run away from you? We need to cancel the wedding right now. Didn't her parents tell her she was going to marry you, and that the wedding is the day after tomorrow?"

"No, Mother. You cannot call off the wedding," Charles refused. His mother's jaw dropped as she stared sadly at her only son, who had fallen for a foolish lady.

"Charles, don't tell me you still want to marry a lady who doesn't love you. I cannot allow that to happen," First Lady Kira added.

"I know, Mother, but you and Father have always wanted me to marry. Now I cannot change my choice. I understand Nancy's fears. She's marrying the president's son, so she has to be scared," Charles replied with a sad smile.

His mother shook her head. "No, Charles. Nancy should be happy and glad you chose her. Any other lady would be thrilled and excited to become your wife. She would shower you with love and warmth. How dare Nancy run away from you, and you take it lightly with her family? Where's my phone? I need to have her arrested and dealt with this minute, before throwing her behind bars."

"No, Mother!" Charles snapped, startling her. "You cannot do that. If I don't marry Nancy, then I won't marry anyone else."

"What?" First Lady Kira's jaw dropped again. She sat speechless, staring at her only son in shock.

She shook her head. "No, Charles. This is not happening. I will find another bride for you, okay? That's not a problem. There are many other pretty ladies out there, and even fairer than Nancy."

"No, Mother. I want Nancy Marlon. I want only her. I want to feel her love, her warmth, and I believe with time she will love me too."

"Just give Nancy some time, Mom. Know that I'm truly in love now," Charles smiled, surprising his mother even more.

Her jaw stayed agape. She gulped as Charles said, "Let's have our dinner, Mom, before it gets cold."

"Okay, my son," First Lady Kira replied, silently blaming herself for choosing Nancy's photo first.

She had seen many pretty young women's photos since every family wanted their daughter to marry her only son. Even though they ridiculed and wrote nonsense about her family online, it still didn't deter them from sending millions of photos to her personal assistant.

First Lady Kira had personally selected Nancy's photo the moment her eyes fell on the pretty lady's picture alongside two other young women.

She knew Charles wouldn't have time to go through all the photos to choose a bride.

Now she blamed herself, wishing she had never picked Nancy's photo.

*How dare that foolish young lady reject my only son—the most handsome and well-to-do young man in this city? If it wasn't that Charles loves women and is rumored to be a playboy, what would have given that young lady the right to reject my only son and even run away from him? Hmm.* First Lady Kira sighed heavily.

Charles asked, "Mom, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Charles," First Lady Kira replied, thinking of telling her personal assistant to place a monitoring team on Nancy.

Nancy wouldn't just run away from Charles like that—not under her watch.

"I need to do a personal background check on Nancy to know if she already has a secret lover somewhere, which might explain why she rejected Charles.* First Lady Kira thought and sighed again. Charles didn't ask what was wrong. They continued eating their dinner silently in the dining hall.

After dinner ended, Charles stood first and prepared to retire upstairs to his bedroom. He said to his mother, "Good night, Mom."

"Yes, good night, Charles," First Lady Kira replied as Charles leaned closer and pecked her on her right cheek. He walked toward the living room stairs and climbed them to return to his bedroom.

Charles decided to use the stairs to clear his mind, but he kept thinking about Nancy and why she had run away from him.

He stepped into his sitting room first, then walked into his bedroom. He picked up Nancy's photo from the headboard.

Charles kissed Nancy's photo directly on the pink lips he admired most and said, "So pink and lovely. I cannot wait to have you as my wife and kiss these beautiful pink lips every day."

Charles smiled and kissed Nancy's photo once more. His whole body ached for her.

He asked himself, "But why did she run away from me? Am I ugly now?"

Charles frowned and walked to his bedroom mirror to examine his face. He had short black hair, his front hair and short beard neatly shaped. He was a tall, handsome Black man.

Charles murmured, "Maybe Nancy doesn't like guys with beards. But she's so beautiful, and I cannot reject her now. Maybe she has a boyfriend. I'm sure she must have one. Hmm."

Charles frowned at the thought of Nancy having a boyfriend—the reason she had run away from him. He cursed, "Nonsense! Is her boyfriend finer than me? I cannot reject her now, and my mother shouldn't dare hurt her. What am I even ranting about?"

Charles walked back to his bed, picked up his telephone, and called Stevo Brights, his head security man and most trusted handler of his security affairs.

Charles needed Stevo to monitor Nancy's activities—her phone calls, her text messages—and find out if she already had a boyfriend she was probably calling.

"Hello, Stevo." Charles said coldly.

Stevo froze and replied, "Hello, boss. Good evening." He was in the security house inside the villa.

Charles said, "I want you to hire a trained personnel in hacking to monitor and give me 24-hour reports on my chosen bride. I will forward her details shortly. Find out what she does, who she calls, and who she speaks with daily. Is that understood?"

"Yes, boss. Anything else you need me to do?" Stevo asked.

"No, that's all," Charles replied, and the call ended.

Charles sighed and stared at Nancy's photo still in his hand. He said, "I cannot wait to have you as my wife. In just two days, you will be on my bed, moaning sweetly to my deep thrust. Damn it! I just hope she doesn't run away from me, before then."