Chapter 5

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

"Good evening, Mom," Charles greeted her as he hugged her shoulder and walked with her toward the dining room.

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

"Hmm," First Lady Kira smiled as she kept silent and watched Charles pull a dinner chair out for her to sit down first. She sat elegantly in the first chair and continued to observe her handsome son as he sat in the chair next to hers at the dining table.

"Mom, Nancy is the one I went to see, and she's very cute. Where did you see her photo?" he asked. "I really do like her."

"Mm," First Lady Kira smiled as she watched the maids step out of the kitchen, approaching the dining table to serve dinner for her and Charles.

The two maids served the delicious meals since President Nolan Alejandro was not around; he was in a presidential meeting.

First Lady Kira smiled and replied to Charles, "Your father has already made it known to some of his cabinet members that he was looking for a bride for you, to see if any of them had pretty daughters you might like and choose from."

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

His mother asked, "But what’s the problem, 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 she asked 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 and in front of our prominent guests."

"I know, Mom. But the truth is that Nancy ran away from me when I went to welcome her home and into her family house," Charles said, shaking his head in embarrassment and covering his face with both palms. He remembered how Nancy had turned away from him, but he couldn’t help recalling how her hips swayed seductively as she walked.

Charles smiled, not realizing that his mother was glaring at him, finding his revelation far from funny.

She snapped, "What? How dare Nancy 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? The wedding is tomorrow!"

"No, Mother. You cannot call off the wedding," Charles refuted, and his mother's jaw dropped as she stared at him sadly, realizing he had fallen for a girl who seemed to be playing silly games.

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

"I know, Mother, but you and Father have always wanted me to marry, and now I cannot change my choice. I understand Nancy's fears... She's getting married to the president's son, so she must be scared," Charles said sadly, but his mother shook her head.

"No, Charles. Nancy should be happy that you've chosen her as your wife. Many other women would have thrilled at the chance to be chosen by you. How dare she run away from you? You should be taking this seriously! Where's my phone? I need to get her arrested and deal with her right now."

"No, Mother!" Charles snapped, startling her. "You cannot do that. If I do not marry Nancy Marlon, then know that I won’t marry any other lady either."

"What?" Mrs. Kira Alejandro’s jaw dropped again as she turned speechless, staring at her only son in disbelief.

She shook her head and said, "No, Charles. This is not happening! I will find another bride for you to marry, okay? That’s not a problem; there are many other pretty ladies out there—some even more beautiful and fairer than Nancy."

"No, Mother," Charles replied, shaking his head. "I want Nancy Marlon. I want to feel her love and warmth, and I believe that with time, she will love me too."

"Just give Nancy some time," he pleaded. "I’m truly in love now," he said, surprising his mother even more as her jaw fell agape.

She gulped as Charles added, "Let's have our dinners, Mom, before it gets cold."

"Okay, son," First Lady Kira thought to herself that she regretted picking Nancy’s photo first.

She had seen many pretty young women's photos, as every family wanted their daughter to marry her only son. Even though they faced ridicule online regarding her family, it didn’t deter families from sending countless photos to her personal assistant.

She had personally selected Nancy’s photo the moment her eyes fell on it among the other candidates. She realized Charles wouldn’t have time to sort through all the submissions, so she made the decision on his behalf. Now, she subtly blamed herself and regretted choosing Nancy.

"The silly young lady dared to reject my only son, the most handsome and wealthy young man in the city. If it weren’t for Charles loving women and being rumored to be a playboy, what gave this young lady the right to reject him and run away?" First Lady Kira sighed heavily, lost in thought.

Charles looked at her and asked, "Mom, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Charles," First Lady Kira replied with a fake smile. She thought about contacting her personal assistant to set up a monitoring team on Nancy.

"Nancy wouldn’t just run away from Charles without me noticing. I need to contact Miller. I have to do a thorough background check on Nancy to determine if she already has a secret lover somewhere, which might explain her rejection of Charles," she thought to herself, sighing again. Charles didn’t inquire further about her feelings as they continued eating dinner silently.

After the meal ended, Charles stood up first from the table, ready to retire back to his bedroom. "Good night, Mom."

"Good night, my son," First Lady Kira Alejandro replied with a warm smile.

Charles leaned closer and kissed her on the left cheek before walking toward the living room stairs to head back upstairs.

He decided to take the stairs to clear his mind, deep in thought about Nancy and why she had run away from him.

Upon entering his sitting room on the top floor, Charles walked to his bedroom. He picked up Nancy's photo from the headboard.

He kissed her image gently on her pink lips, which he admired the most.

"So pink and lovely. I cannot wait to have you as my wife and to kiss you every day."

Charles smiled and kissed Nancy's photo again, his whole body yearning for her.

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

Charles frowned and walked to the mirror in his bedroom to check his appearance. He had a full head of short black hair, neatly shaped facial hair, and was a tall, handsome black man.

Charles muttered, "Maybe she doesn’t like guys with beards. But she’s so beautiful; I cannot reject her now. Maybe she has a boyfriend? I’m sure she must have one..."

Charles frowned at the thought of Nancy having a boyfriend, which could explain why she had run away from him. He retorted, "Nonsense!... Is her boyfriend finer than me? I cannot let her go, and neither should my mother dare to hurt her. What am I even ranting about?"

Charles walked back to his bed and picked up his telephone. He called Stevo Brights, his head of security and trusted advisor.

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

"Hello, Stevo," Charles said coldly, still staring at Nancy's photo.

Stevo froze and replied, "Good evening, Boss. Do you need anything?"

Stevo was at the security house inside the villa.

Charles sighed and replied, "Yes. I want you to hire some trained personnel to monitor and provide me with a 24-hour report on my chosen bride. I will send you her details shortly. Find out what she does, who she calls, and with whom she speaks daily. Is that understood?"

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

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

Charles looked back at Nancy's photo in his hand, murmuring, "I cannot wait to have you as my bride. In just two days, you will be lying on my bed, moaning sweetly at my deep thrusts. Dammit! I just hope she doesn’t run away..."