Chapter 4

"No, Father!" Nancy screamed as her father pulled her bedroom door open and finally exited.

She turned to face her mother and begged, "Please, Mom, talk to Dad. I cannot marry that man; I cannot marry Charles."

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

"I'm sorry, my dear. I wish I could speak to your father about this, but you know that your father works under the AJ Political party. Even though he doesn’t like Charles or approve of him as your husband, he cannot say no. We were hoping for your father's rank to be promoted, which is why he sent your photos to them."

"Mom..." Nancy stared at her mother in shock, tears filling her eyes. She clearly remembered the day when her mother had called her while she was at home in City X, trying to cook.

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

Nancy did not know her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. If she had known, she would have taken an ugly photo instead of a beautiful one just to avoid being chosen.

Finally, Nancy asked, "Why, Mom? Why did you hide this 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 sent an ugly photo, and then Charles would not have chosen me."

Nancy cried harder, standing beside her window. It hurt to think that her parents wanted to trade her off to Charles.

She thought of how she might escape from marrying him. His family ruled their city, which was named after them.

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

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

"Please, Mom, I have to escape this marriage. Dad cannot call it off, and I don’t want to marry Charles. Please, didn’t you see the way he was staring at me? With lust clearly in his eyes—I couldn’t even meet his gaze because he looks like a pervert. I cannot marry a man who lusts after every woman!"

Mrs. Olivia Marlon laughed softly, "Haha, 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 that she had dropped on the bed and hugged Nancy close, petting her to stop crying. "It's okay, my angel. Stop crying, okay? It's because you're beautiful that Charles was staring at you like that. I think he chose to marry you because he likes you. Your father wanted his rank to be promoted, which is why he submitted your photo."

"No, Mom, I don’t want Charles. I want to marry a simple man who will love only me—not a powerful man like Charles," Nancy cried harder. Her mother stroked her hair, saying, "See, Charles even brought you these beautiful flowers to show that he truly loves you and wants to marry you. Please stop crying, my angel; you know I don’t like to see you like this. I really wish I could help you talk to your father about it, but even after you ran away to your room, Charles didn’t get angry or refuse to marry you, showing he truly loves you and wants you as his wife. The reason he chose you is that we hadn't seen him here until now."

"No, Mom! I don't want Charles! Who told him I was back home?" Nancy asked, moving away from her mother’s embrace to face her. "Did you and Dad rush to tell him I was finally home?"

Mrs. Olivia Marlon frowned and replied, "No, Nancy. We haven’t seen Charles since he chose you last month. I'm just as shocked to see him here today. I didn’t know who informed him of your return. Maybe he was eager to see you and meet you, wanting to look at your pretty face."

"No, Mom..." Nancy said, feeling an unfamiliar panic rise within her. Her mother stood up from the bed and walked toward her.

"It's okay, my beautiful angel, stop crying, alright? Your father is right about love growing with time. You should give Charles a chance to get to know him first. Being the president's son isn’t easy, and it's enough to ruin his reputation and make people judge him unfairly. He might be a nice man, and you wouldn't know just because he's the president's son. Stop listening to the online gossip about him and get to know him before concluding."

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

Nancy sat down nervously at her usual dinner chair, shifting it to the dining table. She felt anxious, knowing the young maids had seen her earlier reaction to Charles.

Her father stepped out of his private office and walked over to the dining table to join them, but his expression remained stern; he wasn’t ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and resumed eating her dinner with her parents. She was very hungry, but her mind was occupied with thoughts of how to escape Charles' grasp.

After dinner ended, Nancy stood from the table and thanked her parents before retiring upstairs to her bedroom.

Inside her room, she paced back and forth after shutting the door. The wedding was only two days away.

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

She walked over to her bed and sat down. Picking up her mobile phone, she checked for the next available flight back to City X.

"The next flight is tomorrow morning at 10 AM. I need to be ready for this and come up with an excuse to leave on time so I don't miss the flight."

With determination, Nancy immediately purchased her return flight ticket to City X. She thought of ways to escape her family’s plans.

"No. I really cannot marry Charles, so I must leave." She got up from her bed, went to the washroom, and then returned to sleep.

She climbed onto her bed, lay down peacefully, shut her eyes, and fell asleep.

****

Charles Alejandro arrived home late at night; his car had encountered delays on the city’s major roads. He lived in the heart of the city in the presidential white villa.

Charles stepped out of his car and walked toward their mansion’s entrance. The mansion was a powerful two-story building, surrounded by numerous bodyguards.

The premises were dead silent, neat, and exuded excellence.

Charles walked into the living room and made his way toward the staircase, intending to retire to his bedroom on the top floor.

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

"Charles... Did you meet with your chosen bride today?"

"Mom," Charles replied, quickly turning back to face her. He smiled and walked over to meet her since he hadn't seen her when he first entered.

He wondered who had informed her that he had gone to see Nancy. He knew his parents kept an eye on him and monitored his activities without his knowledge.

Charles smiled as he approached his mother, who asked, "Charles... Isn't Nancy the woman you went to see? I can see you’re smiling, my son. Is she the one in the photo?"