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 walked up to the bed to meet her daughter, still holding the bouquet of rose flowers Charles had given her.

She said, "I'm sorry, Nancy, I wish I could speak to your father about this. But you know your father is working under the A.J Political party group, and even though he 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 why he sent your photos to them."

"Mom..." Nancy stared at her mother's face in shock, tears filling her eyes. She clearly remembered the day her mother had called her while she was at her home in City X, trying to cook, and asked her to send photos, saying she wanted to use them. Nancy did not know her mother's true intention was to send her photos to the Alejandro family.

Nancy 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? If I had known, I could have taken an ugly photo and sent it to you, and Charles wouldn't have chosen me."

Nancy cried harder, standing beside her room window, hurt 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. And his family were the ones ruling their country, which was named after them.

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

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

Nancy begged, "Please, Mom, I've got to escape this marriage. Dad can't call it off, and I don't want to marry Charles. Please, Mom, didn't you see the way he was staring at me? With lust clearly written in his eyes, and I couldn't even meet his gaze because he looked like a pervert. I cannot marry that kind of man who lusts after everything in a skirt to become my husband, no."

Mrs. Olivia laughed out, "Haha, no, Nancy, don't say that. I believe Charles chose you because he truly loves you and really wants to marry you."

"No, Mom," Nancy disagreed, but her mother picked up the bouquet of rose flowers she had dropped on the bed and 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 Charles was staring at you like that. I think he chose to marry you because he likes you, and your father actually wanted his rank to be promoted, which is why he submitted your photo for them to see. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose yours."

"No, Mom, I don't want Charles. I don't want the president's son. I want to marry a simple man who will love only me, 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 angel. 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 reject marrying you, showing he truly loves you and wants you as his wife."

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

Mrs. Olivia frowned and replied, "No, Nancy. We haven't seen Charles here before, since the previous month when he chose your photo. I'm still shocked to see him here today, as I did not know who informed him of your return to the city. Maybe he was also eager to see and meet you, by seeing your pretty face."

"No, Mother..." Nancy said, and her mother stood up from the bed and walked up to her.

She said, "It's okay, my beautiful 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 enough to ruin his reputation and make people judge him wrongly. He might be a good man now, and you wouldn't know just because he's the president's son. Stop listening to any online gossips about him, and get to know him first before you conclude about him. Come, let's go downstairs and have our dinner as a family, as it's already late."

Mrs. Olivia gently pulled Nancy beside her to follow her downstairs to the dining room. Nancy sighed, knowing she had no other option than to go with her mother. She couldn't protest at that point and silently followed her mother downstairs.

Nancy was nervous, knowing most of the young maids had seen her reaction to Charles. She sat down nervously on her usual dinner chair, shifting it closer to the dining table to have her meal, 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 stern, not yet ready to beg Nancy.

Nancy sighed and resumed eating her dinner with her parents at the table, thinking of how she would escape Charles' clutches.

After dinner, Nancy stood up from her chair and thanked her parents before retiring upstairs to her bedroom.

She paced about in her room just after shutting the door, knowing the wedding was in two days.

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

Nancy walked to her bed and sat down, picking up her mobile phone and checking for the next available flight back to Country X.

"The next flight is tomorrow morning at 10 am. I need to be ready for this and make an excuse to get there in time before I miss the flight," Nancy said, smiling as she immediately purchased her return flight ticket.

"No, I really cannot marry that man, so I must leave," Nancy concluded and stood up from her bed. She went to the bathroom before stepping out and climbing into bed to sleep.

***

Charles Alejandro arrived home late at night, as his car had encountered some traffic in the city's main roads. He was still living in the heart of the city with his parents, inside the presidential white villa.

Charles alighted from his car and walked towards the mansion's frontage, the two-story building guarded by plenty of bodyguards around the premises.

The mansion was silent, the premises neat and exuding excellence.

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

But just then, his mother stepped out of the kitchen door and smiled at him as she saw him heading upstairs.

She called him back, "Charles... Did you meet with your chosen bride today?"

"Mom," Charles swiftly turned back to face his mother, smiling as he walked back to meet her. He wondered who had told his mother he went to see his chosen bride, knowing his parents closely monitored his activities.

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