Chapter 2

Charles Alejandro, a 30-year-old man was at his hotel when he received the report that his chosen bride had finally arrived home.

He was eager to see Nancy, as his parents had been pressuring him to settle down. He was their only son and, more likely, the future president. He had many enemies, both inherited and acquired.

Charles had been at his company earlier that morning before deciding to visit his hotel in the afternoon. He planned to entertain any cute lady there in the evening. It was no secret that he loved women, being a powerful man in AJ City. Most young ladies knew this and wanted to be with him.

Charles was very attractive, tall, dark-sknned, and had short black hair. His mother would not allow him to rest, as she kept pestering him about marriage. She even showed him different photos of ladies she had selected for him to choose from. But Charles wasn't interested in any of them. He preferred his promiscuous lifestyle, although his parents were completely against it.

"Charles! You need to stop hosting different women and bringing shame to our family. You're the president's son, and you need to act respectable for once. How do you feel knowing that almost half of the city’s ladies have seen your nakedness?" his father asked him inside the sitting room on the second floor.

Charles sat on a black couch, smiled, and replied, "Not half, Father. How can I possibly sleep with almost all the pretty ladies here? There are too many for me alone, and you know this."

Seeing that his father wasn’t smiling back at him, Charles knew it was best to adopt a serious expression too.

His father replied, "Then you need to marry, Charles. Or else, I will seize every right you have and look for someone competent to take over my wealth."

"Hmm..." Charles frowned as his father warned him with blazing eyes. His father exited the second-floor sitting room to meet with his guests.

His mother stepped out of the elevator and walked into the sitting room to join him.

She asked him, "Charles, I don’t understand why you’re afraid of marriage."

"Hmm, I’m not afraid of marriage, Mom," Charles replied, taking a cigarette from his trouser pocket to light it. The truth was, he hadn't yet found any woman he loved.

To him, most young ladies were cheats and gold diggers. He had seen plenty wanting to sleep with him, forgetting they had boyfriends or fiancées. Finding the right woman who matched his choice for a bride had proven difficult as well.

"Then what's the problem, Charles? You haven’t accepted any invitation that your father or I have offered to you. Do you want us to go ahead and choose a bride on your behalf? Marry her, and bring her here for you?" his mother asked.

"No, Mother. I’m not interested in any arranged bride. Most young ladies are cheats and pretentious... Once they see that I want to marry them, they pretend to be nice to me and jump at the offer. So no..."

Charles shook his head and took a drag from his cigar, puffing it into the air.

His mother frowned and replied, "No, Charles... That’s when you leave a responsible young lady to marry a playful girl like yourself..."

"Mom..." Charles stared up at his mother in shock. He shook his head as he met her smiling gaze.

She was a 65-year-old black woman, standing regal in front of him in her long blue native gown. She was a traditionalist too.

First Lady Kira approached Charles on the black couch and said, "Here, Charles... I have these three cute women’s photos for you to see who among them you might like. Their families are well-respected and affiliated with your father’s political party."

"Mom..." Charles couldn’t believe that his mother was already holding three women’s photos close to her chest, waiting to show them to him at any opportunity.

His mother approached him again and showed him the three women’s photos in her hands. She said, "Here, Charles, take a look."

"Hmm..." Charles sighed and accepted the three photos from his mother.

Holding the cigar to his lips, Charles wore a black top, black leather trousers, and black boots. He loved dressing in all-black clothing.

Charles stared at the first lady’s photo at the top of the stack. The lady was cute—a black-skinned woman with a round face and flat nose. Her big brown eyes shone seductively in the simple pink crop top and blue jeans she wore in the outdoor photo.

Charles frowned and held the cigar to his lips, sliding the photo to the next lady's image. His eyes fell on a pair of sparkling blue eyes.

The woman was cute with a round face, pointed nose, and rosy dimples on her chubby cheeks. Her plump lips were enticing, making him want to kiss her photo. Her long, sparkling golden hair glittered, making his jaw drop in admiration. The second woman wore a white tank top in the cute outdoor selfie.

Staring at her slender neck and the top of her slightly exposed bosom, Charles gulped, his muscles tightening at the thought of kissing and licking every inch of her beautiful skin. He didn’t know how long he had been staring at her photo until he heard his mother ask, "Charles... do you like her?"

"Mom..." Charles snapped out of his trance, staring at his mother’s face and meeting her smiling gaze.

He held back his response as he slid the photo to the last woman’s image to see her face too.

She was beautiful—a fair-skinned young woman, but chubbier than the second lady. As such, she didn’t seem to catch his eye or make his heart race like the second lady’s photo had; that one made him hard and wanting her.

Charles swiped back to the second lady’s photo and handed the other two photos back to his mother, asking, "Who is she, Mom?"

First Lady Kira smiled and replied, "She’s Nancy Marlon, Senator Logan Marlon's only child."

"Hmm..." Charles hummed as he finished smoking his cigarette.

His mother said, "I see that you like her, Charles. Don’t worry; I will arrange for my assistant to send the marriage proposal to her family at once to let them know you have chosen to marry their daughter."

"Okay, Mom, but is she around? I would like to see her face. Does she look like she does in this photo? You know that most young ladies nowadays know how to edit their photos to appear cute and very attractive," Charles asked, continuing to stare at Nancy’s photo in his hands.

His mother smiled at him and replied, "I don’t know, Charles, but I will call her family to find out whether she’s around or not. Once she is, we will proceed with the wedding ceremony."

"Okay, Mom," Charles smiled and didn’t dismiss the topic of marriage; he wanted Nancy. Every fiber of his body desired her.

He wanted to kiss her photo but suppressed the urge, allowing his mother to leave him first.

Charles stood up from the black couch in the sitting room and went upstairs to his bedroom on the third floor, taking Nancy's photo along with him.

One month later, Charles went to his luxury hotel over the weekend to see if he could meet any cute lady there to distract himself from thinking about Nancy. He awaited her return to the city, but none of the pretty ladies he encountered seemed to capture his heart or make him feel the way he wanted to about only one woman: Nancy Marlon.

"Boss, our security men embedded in Nancy’s father’s security team have just called to inform us that your chosen bride has returned to the city and is at her family home as we speak," his personal assistant, Dennis Richard, informed him over the phone.

Charles was in the presidential suite of his luxury hotel. He replied, "Prepare the car. We are leaving now for her father's mansion."

"Okay, boss," Dennis answered.

Charles immediately dismissed the pretty lady who was preoccupying him; he felt irritated and found no pleasure in her company. He only wanted to meet with his chosen bride, his heart’s desire. So he exited the top floor of his luxurious hotel and went out to his parking lot, wearing a black suit with a red inner shirt.

Charles approached his car door, and his security team pulled the door shut behind him.

Once settled into the car, the chauffeur drove out towards Senator Logan Marlon's residence.