The Billionaire's Chosen Bride

Chapter 4

"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 given her earlier.

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 AJ Political Party group, and even though he doesn't like Charles or approve of him as 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 when she was at her home in City X, trying to cook.

Her mother had asked her to send some photos, saying she wanted to use them. Since Nancy hardly took photos or posted online, she didn't know her mother's true intention was to send her photo to the Alejandro family. If she had known, she would have sent an ugly photo instead.

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

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

She thought about how she could escape from Charles, as she didn't want to marry him, especially since his family ruled over their city, which gave the country its name.

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

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

Nancy begged, "Please, Mom, I have to escape this marriage. Dad can't call it off, and I don't want to marry Charles. Didn't you see the way he was staring at me? With lust in his eyes, I couldn't even meet his gaze. He looks like a pervert, Mom. I can't marry a man who lusts after everything in a skirt."

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

"No, Mom," Nancy disagreed, but her mother picked up the bouquet of roses she had dropped on the bed and hugged Nancy closely, 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. Your father wanted his rank to be promoted, which is why he submitted your photo. Among all the rejected photos, Charles still chose yours."

"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 comforted her. "See, Charles even brought you these beautiful flowers to show how much he truly loves you and wants to marry you. Please stop crying, my angel. You know I don't like to see you cry like this. I wish I could help you talk to your father about it. But even after you left us downstairs and ran back here, Charles didn't get angry or reject marrying you, showing that he truly loves you and wants you as his wife. That's why he chose you, and we haven't seen him here before until your return from City X."

"No, Mom! I don't want Charles! And who told him I'm back home in the country? Did you and Father rush to call him and tell him I'm finally home?" Nancy asked her mother as she moved away from her embrace and stood up to see her mother's face, trying to determine if she was lying.

Mrs. Olivia Marlon frowned and replied, "No, Nancy. We haven't seen Charles here 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 eager to see you and meet you by seeing your pretty face."

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

She said, "It's okay, my beautiful angel. Stop crying, okay? Your father is right about love growing with time. You should give Charles a chance to get to know him first. Being the President's son isn't easy, and it can ruin his reputation, making 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 online gossip about him, okay? Get to know him first before you conclude. Come, let's 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. Nancy sighed, knowing she had no other option but to go downstairs with her mother.

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

Nancy was nervous, knowing that most of the young maids had seen her reaction towards Charles earlier. She sat down nervously in 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 and her mother for dinner, but his face was still strict, as he wasn't ready to beg Nancy yet.

Nancy sighed and finally resumed eating her dinner with her parents at the dinner table, as she was very hungry and thought about how she would escape from Charles's clutches.

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

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

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

Nancy walked to her bed, sat on it, 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 make an excuse to get there in time before I miss the flight."

Nancy smiled as she immediately purchased her return flight ticket to City X and thought about 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 her washroom, then returned to her bed to sleep.

She climbed into bed, lay peacefully, closed her eyes, and slept.

****

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

He stepped down from his car and walked towards the mansion's front, a powerful two-story building with plenty of bodyguards standing around, guarding the premises.

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

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

But 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 to face his mother, smiled, and walked back to meet her, as he hadn't seen her when he first entered the living room.

He wondered who had told his mother that he went to see his chosen bride, knowing his parents had their eyes on him and monitored his activities without his knowledge.

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