Chapter 4 — Mother's petting

"No father!" Nancy screamed as her father pulled her room door open and finally 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."

Mrs. Olivia Marlon sighed, and she finally walked up to the bed to meet her daughter. She was still holding the bouquet of rose flowers in her hands that Charles had earlier given her.

She said, "I'm sorry, Nancy. I wish that I could speak to your father about this. But you know that your father is working under the A.J Political Party group, and even though your father didn't like Charles or approve of him becoming your husband, He cannot say no. As we were only hoping for your father's rank to be promoted, as to the reason your father sent your photos to them,

"Mom..." Nancy stared at her mother's face in shock, with tears filling her eyes. She clearly remembered the day that her mother had called her on the phone when she was at home in City X and trying to cook that day.

Her mother had asked her to send her photos, and she wanted to use them. Since she hardly snapped a phone or posted online,.

She didn't know that her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. As if she had known, then she couldn't have snapped beautiful photos but an ugly one and sent it to her mother.

Nancy finally 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 son to check me out? I could have snapped an ugly photo and sent it to you then. And that way, Charles wouldn't have chosen me." 

Nancy cried harder as she stood beside her room window and was hurt to think that her parents wanted her 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 over their city. Which made the country be named after the Alejandro history too.

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

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

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

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

"No mom" Nancy disagreed, but her mother picked up the bouquet of rose flowers that she had dropped on the bed and hugged Nancy closely to her chest by petting her only child to stop crying, and she said, "Everything is okay, my angel. Stop crying, okay? It's because you're beautiful, and that was why Charles was staring at you like that. I think that he chose to marry you because he likes you, and your father actually wanted his rank to be promoted at first, which is why he submitted your photo to them to have a look at. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chooses your photo."

"No, mom, I don't want him. 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, and her mother pet 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, as you know that I don't like to see you crying like this. I really wish that 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 to show that he truly loved you and really wanted you as his wife. To the reason why he chose you, as we haven't seen him here before until after your return now from City X."

"No mom! I don't want Charles! And who told him that I'm already back home in the country?. Did you and your father rush to call him and tell him that I'm finally at home?" Nancy asked her mother, as she moved away from her mother's embrace and stood up from the bed to see her mother's face. And to know if her mother was lying to her or not.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon frowned and replied, "No, Nancy. We haven't seen Charles here before. Since the previous month, he has chosen your photo. And I'm still shocked to see him here today, as I didn't know who informed him of your return to the city. Maybe he was also so eager to see you and meet with you by seeing your pretty face." 

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

She said, "It is okay, my daughter. Stop crying, okay? As your father is right about love growing with time, You should just give Charles a chance to get to know him first, as being the president's son isn't easy and is enough to ruin his reputation and make people judge him wrongly. He might be a nice man now, and you wouldn't know just because he's the president's son. Stop listening to any online gossip about him, okay, and you should get to know him first before you finally conclude on him. Come, let us go downstairs and have our dinners, as it's already getting late."

Mrs. Olivia gently pulled Nancy beside her to follow her downstairs to the dining room, while Nancy sighed, as she didn't have any other option than to go downstairs with her mother.

She knew that she couldn't protest at that point, and she silently followed her mother downstairs to the dining room.

Nancy was nervous as she knew that most of the young maids had seen her reaction towards Charles earlier, and she sat down nervously on her usual dinner chair and shifted her seat closer to the dining table to have her dinner 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 looking strict, as he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and finally resumed to eat her dinner with her parents on the dinner table, as she was very hungry, and she thought of how she would escape from Charles clutch.

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

She paces about in her bedroom, just after she has shut the door. She knew that the wedding was in two days.

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

Nancy walked up her bed and sat on it, she picked up her mobile phone, and checked for the next available flight back to City X.

She said, "The next flight is tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. I need to be ready for this and to take an excuse to get there in time before I miss the flight." 

Nancy smiled as she immediately purchased her return flight ticket going back to City X. And she thought of how she would be able to escape from her family.

"No. I really cannot marry that man, so I must leave." Nancy finally stood up from her bed, and she went to ease herself in her washroom before she stepped out and went to her bed to sleep. 

She climbed on her bed and laid peacefully on it as she shut her eyes closed and went to sleep.

****

Charles Alejandro arrived home late at night, as his car had a few holdups on the major city roads. He was still living in the heart of the city with his parents and inside the presidential white villa too.

Charles stepped down from his car and walked up towards their mansion frontage, as the mansion is a powerful two-story building. And there were plenty of security bodyguards standing around and guarding the mansion's premises too.

The mansion was dead silent, as the premises were neat and exuded excellence.

Charles walked into the living room and made his way towards the staircase to retire back upstairs to his bedroom, which was on the top floor.

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

She called him back and asked, "Charles, did you meet with your chosen bride today?"

"Mom." Charles swiftly turned back to face his mother, and he smiled and walked back to meet her. He didn't see her the first time he  stepped into the living room.

Charles wondered who had told his mother that he went to see his chosen bride. He knew that his parents had their eyes on him and were also monitoring his activities, even without his knowledge.

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