5: Charles decision

"Mom..." Charles approached his mother and hugged her. 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 our dinner together as a family."

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

He replied, "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 dining chair out for her to sit down first. She sat elegantly in the first chair and continued watching her handsome son, while Charles sat in the next chair beside her at the dining table.

He replied, "Mom, she's the one, and she's very cute. Where did you see her photo from? I really do like her."

"Mm," First Lady Kira smiled, watching the maids step out of the kitchen. They walked up to the dining table to serve her dinner alongside Charles' dinner.

They served the delicious fried rice and chicken as President Nolan Alejandro wasn't around and was at a presidential meeting.

First Lady Kira smiled once again and replied, "Charles, your father already mentioned it to some of his cabinet members that he was looking for a good bride for you and wanted to know which of his members had any pretty daughters that you might like and choose from."

"Hmm, 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 him, "But what, Charles?"

First Lady Kira frowned as she watched her only son act nervously. She waited for the maids to finish serving dinner before she asked again, "Charles... Do you want us to cancel the wedding? The wedding is in two days' time, and you cannot embarrass your father and me in public, especially in front of all our prominent guests."

"I know, Mom, but the truth is that Nancy ran away from me when I went to welcome her home for her return to the city and to her family house too," Charles shook his head in embarrassment, covering his face with both palms as he remembered how Nancy had run away from him. But he vividly recalled how her hips had moved, swaying seductively in his view.

Charles smiled, but he didn't know that his mother was still staring at him angrily, as she didn't find his revelation funny at all.

She exclaimed, "What? Charles, 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 and that the wedding is tomorrow?"

"No, Mother... You cannot call off the wedding," Charles refuted, and his mother's jaw dropped as she stared at her only son sadly, who had fallen in love with a silly lady.

"Don't tell me that you still want to go ahead and marry a lady who doesn't love you, Charles. I cannot allow that to happen," First Lady Kira added.

"I know, Mother, but you and Father have always wanted me to marry. I cannot change my choice again. I understand Nancy's fears... She's getting married to the president's son, so she has to be scared, Mom," Charles said, smiling sadly. But his mother shook her head and replied, "No, Charles... She's supposed to be happy with you and glad that you've chosen her. Any other lady out there would be happy that you've chosen her to become your wife. How dare Nancy run away from you, and you take it lightly with her family? Where's my phone? I need to get her arrested and deal with her this minute before throwing her behind bars too."

"No, Mother!" Charles exclaimed, startling his mother. He said, "You cannot do that. If I don't marry Nancy, 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 shock.

She shook her head and said, "No, Charles. This is not happening... I will find another bride for you to marry, okay? And that's not a problem, as there are many other pretty ladies out there, and many who are also fairer than Nancy."

"No, Mother. I want Nancy. I really do want Nancy, Mom. I want to feel her love, her warmth, and I believe that with time, she will love me too."

"Just give Nancy some time, Mom, and know that I'm truly in love now," Charles smiled, surprising his mother even more, whose jaw was left agape. She gulped as she heard Charles say, "Let's have our dinner, Mom, before it gets cold."

"Okay, son." First Lady Kira subtly blamed herself in her heart for choosing Nancy's photo first. She had seen many pretty young women's photos, as every family wanted their daughter to be married to her only son. Even though they ridiculed her and wrote nonsense about her family online, it still didn't deter them from sending millions of photos to her personal assistant.

She had personally selected Nancy's photo the moment her eyes fell on the pretty lady’s picture among the other two young women's photos. She knew that Charles wouldn't have the time to go through all the photos to choose a bride. Now she was subtly blaming herself and wishing in her heart that she had never picked Nancy's photo, as the silly young lady had dared to reject her only son, the most handsome and well-to-do young man in their city. "If it wasn't that Charles loves women and he's rumored to be a player, then what would give the young lady the right to reject my only son and even run away from him? Hmm..." First Lady Kira sighed heavily as she thought to herself. Charles gazed at her, asking her, "Mom, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Charles," First Lady Kira replied, thinking to inform her personal assistant to place a monitoring team on Nancy. Nancy wouldn't just run away from Charles like that, not under her watch.

"I really need to do a personal background check on Nancy to know if she already has a secret lover somewhere, which might be the reason she rejected Charles. Hmm," First Lady Kira thought to herself and sighed again. But Charles didn't ask her what was wrong as they continued eating their dinner silently in the dining hall.

After the dinner session ended, Charles stood up first from the dining chair and prepared to retire back upstairs to his bedroom. He said to his mother, "Good night, Mom."

"Yeah, good night, Charles," First Lady Kira replied. Charles leaned closer to her and pecked her on her right cheek that was beside him. He walked away toward the living room stairs and climbed them to go back upstairs to his bedroom.

Charles decided to use the stairs to exercise his mind, and he kept thinking about Nancy and why she had run away from him.

Charles stepped into his sitting room on the top floor and walked up to his bedroom. As he entered his bedroom, he picked up Nancy's photo that he had kept on the headboard.

He kissed her photo on her pink lips, which he admired the most, and he said, "So pink and lovely. I cannot wait to have you as my wife and to be kissing you every time on those beautiful pink lips of yours."

Charles smiled and kissed Nancy's photo once more, feeling his whole body ached for her.

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

Charles frowned and walked up to his vanity to examine his face. He had a full short black hair on his head, and his front hair and short beard were neatly shaped. He was a tall, handsome black man.

He murmured, "Maybe she doesn't like guys with beards. Hmm... But she's so beautiful, and I cannot reject her now. Maybe she has a boyfriend? I'm so sure that she must have one. Hmm..."

Charles frowned as he thought about Nancy having a boyfriend. And her boyfriend being the main reason she ran away from him. He cursed, "Nonsense! Is her boyfriend finer than me? I cannot reject her now, and Mother shouldn't dare to hurt her either. What am I even ranting about?"

Charles walked back to his bed, picked up his telephone, and placed a call to Stevo Brights, who was his head security man and very trusted in managing his security affairs.

Charles needed Stevo to monitor whatever activities Nancy was into—her phone calls, her text messages, and to find out if she already had a boyfriend.

Charles said coldly, "Hello, Stevo."

Stevo replied, "Hello, boss. Good evening." Stevo was in the security house inside the villa. Charles said, "I want you to hire some trained personnel in the field of hacking to monitor her and give me a 24-hour report on my chosen bride. I will forward her details to you shortly. You should find out what she does, who she calls, and who she speaks with daily. Is that understood?"

"Yes, boss."

"Anything else that you need me to do for you, boss?" Stevo asked.

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

Charles sighed and stared back at Nancy's photo he was still holding in his right hand. He said, "I cannot wait to have you as my bride, and in just two days' time you will be in my bed, moaning sweetly to my deep thrust. Shit! I just hope she doesn't kill me before then."