4: Mother's advice

"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 walked up to the bed to meet her daughter, still holding the bouquet of roses that Charles had earlier given to her.

She said, "I'm sorry, Nancy. I wish I could speak to your father about this, but you know that your father works under the AJ Political Party group. Even though he doesn'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 called her while she was at home in City X, trying to cook. Her mother had asked her to send her photos, saying she wanted to use them, since she hardly took any pictures or posted online.

Nancy didn't know that her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. If she had known, she wouldn't have taken beautiful photos; she would have sent an ugly one instead, preventing Charles from choosing her.

Nancy asked her mother, "Why, Mom? Why did you hide this from me? Why didn't you tell me that you wanted to send my photo to the Alejandro family's son to check me out? I could have taken an ugly photo and sent it to you. That way, Charles wouldn't have chosen me."

Nancy cried harder as she stood beside her room window, hurt to think that her parents wanted to trade her off to be with Charles.

She thought of how she would escape from him now, as she didn't want to marry him. His family was the one ruling over their city, which made the country named after the city too.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon apologized, "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. Her mother approached her on the bed and sat beside her.

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

Mrs. Olivia Marlon laughed, "Hahaha, no, Nancy. Don't say that! 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 roses that 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, and that was why 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 to them to have a look. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose yours."

"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 continued to pet her, saying, "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 I could help you talk to your father about this. 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, which shows that he truly loves you and really wants you as his wife. That's why he chose you; we haven't seen him here before until after your return from City X."

"No, Mom! I don't want Charles! Who told him that I'm already back home in the country? Did you and Dad rush to call him and tell him that I'm finally home?" Nancy asked her mother as she moved away from her mother's embrace, standing up from the bed to confront her mother and see if she was lying.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon 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 didn't know who informed him of your return to the city. Maybe he was just eager to see you and meet you, by seeing your pretty face."

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

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

Mrs. Olivia gently pulled Nancy beside her to follow her downstairs to the dining room while Nancy sighed, knowing that she had no other option than to go downstairs with her mother.

She knew that she couldn't protest at that point and 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. She sat down nervously on her usual dinner chair and shifted 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 still looked strict, as he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and resumed eating dinner with her parents at the table. She was very hungry and thought of how she would escape from Charles’ clutches.

After dinner with her parents ended, Nancy stood up from her chair and thanked her parents before she retired upstairs to her bedroom.

She paced about in her bedroom just after she shut the door. She knew that the wedding was in two days' time.

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

Nancy walked up to 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 find an excuse to get there in time before I miss the flight."

Nancy smiled and purchased her return flight ticket back to City X. She thought of how she would escape from her family.

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

She climbed onto her bed and laid peacefully on it as she shut her eyes closed and fell asleep.

****

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

Charles stepped out of his car and walked toward their mansion's front, which was a powerful two-story building with plenty of bodyguards standing around and guarding the premises.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Charles smiled and walked back to his mother, who asked him, "Charles... Isn't she the woman in the photograph? I can see that you're smiling, my son. Is she the one?"