Rich Kids | ✓

Ch-4 Mystery Knight in Shining Armour

Recap:
Hi it's me Riya again. In the last chapter, Nisha went crazy at me when she thought Arjun had cheated on her with me. Then she took it too far and tried to destroy my reputation by locking me in my room, so I wouldn't be able to take on the host role of the fashion show. Luckily, a mysterious stranger rescued me. All I knew was that he wore a ring with the letter 'S' engraved on it. After that, just when I wanted to give Nisha a piece of my mind, I saw her crying as she found out Arjun was with another girl. I comforted her and we made up. Then we all went to LA to Ranjan's family's hunting ranch and that was when i realized who had rescued me that night - it was none other than Sameer!
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I couldn't stop glancing at Sameer's hand.
As we all ate, I realized that it all made so much sense.

After the barbecue, Sameer said he wanted to go to the observatory to get some fresh air. This was my chance. I waited a bit and then I headed over there so I could thank him. When I got there, Sameer glanced at me but then he turned back and kept looking at the view.

I took the ring out of my pocket and showed it to him. Then I smiled as I said, "So you're my knight in shining armor the one who saved me from Nisha's horrible prank."

Sameer looked at the ring and then said to me, "What are you talking about? Listen, I don't have the time or energy to get involved in Nisha's dangerous antics."

Although I was quite surprised by Sameer's denial, I figured out he was just shy. Then I said, "It's okay, don't be shy - I just want to thank you..."

But before I could even finish my sentence, he walked away.

Alright I knew this guy's stubbornness - if he didn't want to admit it, I would not bring it up again. So I just smiled and put the ring back in my pocket and headed downstairs. After that night, I couldn't stop thinking about Sameer - why had he rescued me?

I thought he was the worst when I had first met him, but that night in Las Vegas we had so much fun. But then again he'd left me all alone and then he'd rescued me!

It was so confusing - he acted cold because he had some cool guy personality to keep up, but I could feel that underneath, he was the sweetest caring guy and this just made me want to get to know him even more.

Back at Plutus Heights, I felt closer to everyone after the trip. Aliya was being particularly sweet to me and one day she came to my room while I was working on a project. She looked sad and let out a big sigh as she said, "Riya you gotta help me... I really need some advice."

"What happened? I asked her.

Then she said, "My parents want me to marry the CEO of their partner company. They said it'll give our family more power and make us look good."

She was almost crying as she told me this. I couldn't believe that in this day and age there were still people arranging marriages like this - all for status and power. That's not how love works!

What happened to freedom of choice? She was sobbing now as she told me the rest of the story.

She cried and said, "This man has been chasing me for a while now - he often visits my parents' house and I thought it was to see my dad but now I realize it was because of me. It makes me sick! My parents keep saying I'll never have to worry about a thing because he's super rich, but he's literally 41! I don't want to marry some old rich guy."

WHAT! He was more than double her age - Aliya was only 19. That was insane - what were her parents thinking? I comforted her and asked, Did you try telling your parents that you're not interested?"

She said, "I did.. I tried everything - I even begged them but they insisted that I follow the family tradition that a daughter's marriage should be chosen by the parents because they know what's best for her. Honestly, could my life get any worse?"

Poor Aliya, I felt so sorry for her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked her.

She looked at me through tears and said, "Will you really help me?"

So I said, "Um.. duh we're friends right? That's what friends are for!"

So then she told me she needed to find a guy who would pretend to be her boyfriend because she'd already blurted out to her parents that she was dating someone. Then she said, "My mom and dad want to meet him this weekend to see if he's suitable enough for me to marry."

"Have you found anyone yet?" I asked her.

Then she said "Nope, but I need someone good looking, smart and most importantly he must come from a rich family. Out of our friends, the only one who ticks all of those boxes is Sameer, and okay I'm going to be honest with you now - I've had a serious crush on him ever since I moved in here, so maybe this is my chance! I know it's so awkward to ask him but you're in his investment club and you two talk to each other quite often - so can you go ask him to meet my parents for me? pleeeaase?"