The Mafiya's Desired Bride

The Prank and The Protector

Some time passed in silence in the car.

Vihaan's luxury car finally stopped in the Bloomsbury area of London's most famous University College London (UCL), where Isha's new college was.

Although Isha was currently living in London with her parents, she was actually a resident of India. Her childhood was spent in the city of Mumbai, India, and for the last five years her family had shifted to London.

As soon as the car stopped, Isha's concentration broke and she realized that she had reached college. Forcing a slight smile on her face, Isha looked towards Vihaan and said in a very sweet tone - "Thank you Vihaan... for dropping me to college."

On hearing this, a warm smile appeared on Vihaan's face. He lovingly took Isha's hand in his and caressing her fingers then he said, "What is the need to say thank you, Isha? You are my future wife...it is my duty to take care of you."

Isha had no answer to this. His heart was filled with guilt, so she did not say anything further. Very slowly she released her hand from Vihaan's grip and started opening the door of the car.

Seeing this, Vihaan also immediately got down from the car and quickly turned around and came towards Isha. He opened the car door for Isha in a very respectful and gentlemanly manner.

Isha slowly got out of the car, held tightly to the strap of her bag and took a deep breath in the cool London air—

Then looking at Vihaan, Isha said - "Ok Vihaan, I am leaving... bye."

Saying this, as soon as she turned back to go ahead, Vihaan held her hand and turned her back towards him. Looking into Isha's innocent eyes, he said lovingly - "Isha, today is your first day of college... I will drop you to your class."

On hearing this, Isha was about to refuse, but before she could say anything, Vihaan started moving forward smilingly holding her hand. Isha too could not say anything further and silently started walking step by step with Vihaan.

As soon as both of them entered the main corridor of the college, the eyes of the entire campus were fixed on them. Every child of UCL knew which family Vihaan belonged to. When the young heir of the Oberoi family, such a handsome and rich man, was walking holding the hand of a girl, whispers started everywhere.

The girls were staring at Isha with jealousy and the boys were looking at Vihaan's charm and status.

Vihaan was not bothered by all these things. He took Isha straight outside her class and stopped in a very protective manner, protecting her from the crowd.

As soon as Vihaan came to class, he looked into Isha's eyes and said with a smile - "All the best for your first day, my love!"

Vihaan kissed Isha's forehead lovingly and smiled – "Call me as soon as the class is over, I will come to pick you up."

Isha just nodded her head slowly and went inside the class. The same vehicle had also left.

Isha came inside the class with heavy steps.

The atmosphere of UCL's large and high-tech classrooms was very international and classy. Light London sunlight was coming in through large arched windows, there were long gleaming wooden desks and comfortable chairs in tier-based style, and a large digital smart-board was installed in front.

Isha went to the wooden locker area in the class, kept her heavy bag and silently sat on a seat in the corner. That painful incident of last night was still lingering in her mind.

Just then the phone on his desk vibrated. The name of her best friend Jenny was flashing on the screen.

Jenny was a fashion design student at UCL and was in the second art building on campus.

As soon as Isha picked up the call, Jenny's excited voice echoed from the other side - "Hey Isha! Congratulations friend for your first day! Where are you now? Has your class started?"

Keeping her voice normal, Isha said, "Thank you Jenny... I am sitting in my architecture class, just waiting for the professor."

Jenny chirped and said - "Hey man, it's time for class! You quickly run to the main cafeteria of the college, I have ordered coffee and donuts for both of us. We are meeting after so long, come quickly, there is a lot of gossip to be done!"

At this time, Isha also felt it was better to meet Jenny than sitting alone and thinking unnecessarily.

“Okay Jenny, I will reach the cafeteria in 5 minutes – Isha said and disconnected the call.

Isha got up from her seat and with a heavy heart moved towards the famous, big cafeteria of the campus.

Isha was heading towards the cafeteria, but the huge campus of UCL was so big that she got a little confused. Since today was her first day, she had no idea about the routes.

Then her eyes fell on a boy standing near the corridor. That boy's name was Alex. Alex was a spoiled rich kid in his senior year at UCL—with an arrogant smile, messy hair, and a leather jacket, hanging out with his friends.

Isha slowly walked towards him and said hesitantly, "Excuse me... can you tell me which side is the main cafeteria?"

As soon as Alex heard Isha's voice, he turned. His eyes fell on Isha and he stared at her from head to toe. Isha had come to such a big college in a modern city like London wearing a very simple, loose-fitting normal salwar suit, which was to hide the marks around her neck.

Seeing this traditional and simple look of Isha, a cheeky, funny smile appeared on Alex's face. He laughed in his mind that how did this desi girl come to such a hi-fi university.

Then Alex said in his arrogant tone – “Oh, cafeteria? Absolutely! You go straight through this corridor, take a right turn and go through the basement... the main cafeteria is there."

"Thank you so much!" Isha said innocently without doubting him and moved in that direction.

But little did Isha didn't know that Alex had deliberately lied to her. That path was not to the cafeteria, but to the back-area of the old, deserted library building of the university, where no one usually came and went.

And most of the people used to go there just to smoke cigarettes or to spend time with their partners.

The same Alex, seeing Isha walking down that deserted path from behind, laughed wryly and said to his friends - "Let's see where this stupid country girl wanders on that dark path!"

Isha kept moving towards that deserted corridor without any notice.

As soon as Isha moved forward on the path shown by Alex, within a short time the surrounding environment changed completely. There was no hustle and bustle like the rest of UCL – there was an eerie silence all around, the heavy walls of the old library and a light dusty breeze.

Isha looked around, there was no cafeteria anywhere. He immediately understood that the guy named Alex had played a cruel joke on her and had shown him the wrong path.

"What a strange boy he is..." Isha muttered worriedly and was about to turn back to return.

Then her eyes fell at a short distance, where a group of some spoiled, stray boys were sitting near the old pillar. They were blowing smoke rings with beer cans in their hands and burning cigarettes.

As soon as those boys' eyes fell on Isha wandering alone, a lewd smile appeared on their faces. One of them threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his shoe and said, "Hey look, a new bird has arrived in our area!"

Isha's heart skipped a beat with fear. She immediately started running back quickly, but before she could escape, those four-five boys ran and surrounded Isha from all sides.

Isha got scared and started moving back, clutching her phone to her chest.

One of the tall, tattooed boys came forward and looked at Isha from head to toe and said while smiling in a very impish manner - "Hey, hey, where are you going in such a hurry, beautiful? Before leaving, please tell me your name..."

The other boy came closer to Isha and winked and said – Yes friend, you are looking very hot in this new look! Which department are you from? Tell us also...

Isha said in a trembling voice – Please… let me go! Leave my way. Fear was clearly visible in her eyes.

The first boy moved forward to hold Isha's hand and said – Why are you in such a hurry, baby? We haven't even established our identity properly yet!

Isha retreated helplessly, but her back hit the pillar. There was no way to escape and tears were about to come out of her innocent eyes due to fear.

As soon as the boy started moving his dirty hand towards Isha's face, Isha closed her eyes tightly in fear. But before the boy could even touch Isha, a hard hand came from behind and caught the boy's wrist in the air.

“Relax bro… She is my girl,” — echoed an arrogant, smug voice.

Isha immediately opened her eyes. Standing in front of him was Alex, the same guy who had told him the wrong way here. Alex had a wicked smile on his face and his grip was quite tight on the boy's hand.

Everyone knew Alex throughout UCL. He was not only the son of a very rich father, but was also the captain of the university football team. He had a lot of influence in the campus.

As soon as those stray boys' eyes fell on Alex, all their pride vanished in an instant. The boy who was climbing on Isha immediately pulled his hand back and said nervously, "Oh... sorry Alex! We didn't know she was your prisoner."

Alex said in a cold tone – Now you know, right? So get the hell out of here.

Without wasting a moment, those boys ran away from there with their tails pressed.

As soon as those boys left, Isha took a long sigh of relief, but her heart was still beating loudly. She looked at Alex and said hesitantly, "Thank you... but why did you tell me the wrong path?"

Alex laughed lightly, putting both his hands in his pockets and said in a very normal tone - "Hey dude, relax... Desi girl, I was just playing a small prank on you. You are new in college, so I thought of having a little welcome joke. Little did I don't know that these stupid boys would be sitting here."

Hearing his words, the burden on Isha's heart became lighter and she heaved a sigh of relief. Isha felt that Alex was a bit spoiled and flirtatious, but not a bad boy at heart.

Then Alex stroked his messy hair and said in his cool tone, “Come on, I am really going to drop you off to the cafeteria.

Isha looked at Alex from top to bottom with suspicious eyes. She wondered if this guy was going to play a new prank on him again.

Seeing Isha's reaction, Alex laughed a little and raised his hands in the air and said, "Oh Baba, I swear! No prank this time. I'm actually taking you to the cafeteria. Promise!"

Seeing his carefree and frank style, a slight smile appeared on Isha's face. She handled her bag and said, "Okay, let's go."

Both of them started moving towards the cafeteria together. Throughout the way, Alex kept telling Isha about the different buildings on campus. Isha too had gradually become comfortable with him—completely unaware that someone was sitting in his black car, watching her every move from a distance!