5. His decision

"Mom," Charles approached his mother and hugged her. She smiled at him 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 his mother, hugging her shoulder and walking with her toward the dining room.

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

"Hmm," First Lady Kira smiled, keeping silent and watching Charles pull a dinner chair out for her to sit down first. She sat down elegantly and continued to watch her handsome son as he sat on the next chair beside her at the dining table.

He replied, "Mom, she's the one, and she's very cute. Where did you get her photo? I really like her."

"Mm," First Lady Kira smiled, watching the maids step out of the kitchen and serve her dinner and Charles's dinner on the dining table.

They served the delicious meals, as President Nolan Alejandro was away in a presidential meeting.

First Lady Kira smiled and replied to Charles, "Your father already made it known to some of his cabinet members that he was looking for a bride for you, asking which of his members had pretty daughters you might like."

"Hmm, thanks, Mom. I really like Nancy, but…" Charles's words trailed off, remembering how Nancy had run away from him.

His mother asked him, "But what, Charles?"

First Lady Kira frowned, watching 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 can't embarrass your father and me in public, in front of all our prominent guests."

"I know, Mom, but the truth is that Nancy ran away from me when I went to welcome her home to her family house," Charles said, shaking his head in embarrassment and covering his face with his palms, remembering how Nancy had run away. But he smiled at the way her hips had moved and swayed seductively.

Charles smiled, unaware that his mother was still staring at him angrily, not finding his revelation funny.

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

"No, Mother… You cannot call off the wedding," Charles refuted, and his mother's jaw dropped as she stared sadly at her only son, who had fallen in love with a silly lady.

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

"I know, Mother, but you and Father have always wanted me to marry, and now I can't change my choice. I can understand Nancy's fears. She's getting married to the president's son, so she has to be scared," Charles said, smiling sadly. But his mother shook her head and replied, "No, Charles… She's supposed to be happy with you that you've chosen her. Any other lady would be happy and excited that you've chosen her to become your wife. She would shower you with love and warmth. How dare Nancy run away from you, and you took it lightly with her family? Where's my phone? I need to get her arrested and deal with her this minute, before throwing her behind bars."

"No, Mother!" Charles snapped, startling his mother. "You cannot do that. If I don't marry Nancy, know that I won't marry any other lady."

"What?" First Lady Kira jaw dropped again. She turned speechless and stared at her only son in shock.

She shook her head and said, "No, Charles. This is not happening. I will find another bride for you to marry, okay? There are many other pretty ladies out there, even more beautiful than Nancy."

"No, Mother. I want Nancy Marlon. I really want Nancy, and no other woman. I want to feel her love, her warmth, and I believe that with time, she will love me too."

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

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

"Okay, my son," First Lady Kira subtly blamed herself for choosing Nancy's photo first. She had seen many beautiful young women's photos, as 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.

She had personally selected Nancy's photo the moment her eyes fell on it, along with the other two young women's photos. She knew Charles wouldn't have time to go through all the photos to choose a bride. Now she was subtly blaming herself, wishing she had never picked Nancy's photo, as the silly young lady dared to reject her only son, the most handsome and well-to-do young man in their city. "If it wasn't that Charles loves women and is rumored to be a playboy, what would have given the young lady the right to reject my only son and even run away from him? Hmm," First Lady Kira sighed heavily, thinking to herself. Charles asked her, "Mom, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Charles," First Lady Kira replied, thinking to inform her personal assistant to place a monitoring team on Nancy. Nancy wouldn't just run away from Charles like that without her knowing.

"I really need to do a personal background check on Nancy to know if she already has a secret lover, which is why she rejected my son. Hmm," First Lady Kira thought, sighing again. But Charles didn't ask her what was wrong. They continued eating their dinners silently in the dining hall.

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

"Yeah, good night, Charles," First Lady Kira replied. Charles leaned closer and pecked her right cheek, and he walked away toward the living room stairs, climbing them to go back to his bedroom.

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

Charles stepped into his sitting room first and walked to his bedroom. He picked up Nancy's photo that he had kept on the headboard.

He kissed her pink lips directly, which he admired the most, and said, "So pink and lovely. I can't wait to have you as my wife and to be kissing you on these pink lips every day."

Charles smiled and kissed Nancy's photo again, feeling his whole body craving for her body. 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, and his front hair and short beard were neatly shaped. He was a tall, handsome Black man.

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

Charles frowned, thinking about Nancy having a boyfriend and that being the reason she had run away from him. He cursed aloud, "Nonsense! Is her boyfriend finer than me? I can't reject her now, and Mother shouldn't dare to hurt her. What am I even ranting about?"

Charles walked to his bed again, picked up his telephone, and called Stevo Brights, his head security man, whom he trusted to manage his security affairs.

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

"Hello, Stevo," Charles spoke coldly.

Stevo froze and replied, "Yes, Boss, good evening." Stevo was in the security house inside the Villa. Charles said, "I want you to someone trained in the field of hacking to monitor and give me 24-hour reports on my chosen bride. I will forward her details to you shortly. Find out what she does, who she calls, and speaks with daily. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Anything else you need me to do for you, Boss?" Stevo asked.

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

Charles sighed and stared back at Nancy's photo, still holding it in his right hand. He said, "I can't wait to have you as my bride, and in just two days, you'll be my wife."