Niklaus' point of view

"Christ Jesus!" Isabella screamed, her hand on her chest as soon as she came out of the bathroom and saw me on her bed.

"You're done, " I asked, seeing her flushed skin and wet hair wrapped with a towel, evidence of the hot shower.

Her face was furious, she pointed at the door, "Didn't you see the sign on my door and I quote,'No entry unless summoned, forceful entrance results to dreadful consequences' I bet you you're not blind"

Of course, how could I forget that one?

After the thorough search I ordered last time, my smart daughter found a way to make her room aka fortress impenetrable.

Turning the doorknob to her room, I knew the number of booby traps I had to evade on my way in.

Not to talk of the pins that stabbed me on my butt when I sat on her bed- I was afraid of using the chair since I had an ugly experience with it, thanks to my daughter.

Almost going berserk with anger, I had to calm and remind myself this was what all single father's passed through in the hands of their kid - who was I kidding, this only happens to me.

I wondered how Isabella was able to sleep in here, wasn't she afraid of triggering the traps herself?

Save for the required space and lack of state of an art training facility, one would have thought Isabella's room was a military training facility.

"I summoned myself, how's that for a change?"

"Whatever" She waved aside, walked to the door, picked the trap I had disabled, and tossed it to the side with no care.

"What do you want?" She asked, at last, hands seriously folded across the chest.

"Can't I see my daughter? Know how she's doing? Find how she's coping after that incident?" I threw at her but her face was impassive.

"Congratulations, you have a strong daughter who's fine yet tired of being cooped up in the house, I want to see Maya" she demanded.

"You would see Maya but not now, I have to ensure it's safe for you out there " came my explanation which probably fell on deaf ears.

"I'm going to be fine, the man who shot at us is already dead " Isabella pointed out.

"And the man who rescued you, how sure he's not going to be the one shooting at you next and please, do something about your hair before you catch a cold"

I noticed the water sipping through the towel and dripping on her shoulder, wetting the shirt she was putting on.

I added," You know what? Come let me dry your hair"

Looking around carefully for any sort of trap, I unhooked the dryer hung on the wall and turned around to receive dirty looks from my daughter.

"What?" I asked her, surprised at her odd stare.

"Did you say something?"

"I said, come over here so I could blow-dry your hair " I repeated.

"Creepy" She commented, "No but thanks. I can do it on my own, go show your love to someone else"

Great, only my daughter would think helping her with her hair was creepy. Sigh, Niklaus, see what you've done to yourself.

"I won't repeat myself, Isabella, come over here" I insisted.

"No, I won't. Go away, go show your romantic gesture to another person" She protested.

I stood from my bed and she cowered with a shriek, "Leave me alone! Is loving me by force?!"

"Yes, it is. I must love you as a father" With that said, I dived straight and grabbed her by her tiny waist as she tried to escape.

Isabella squirmed and screamed like one being kidnapped when I hurled her off her feet - she didn't even weigh much, felt like lifting a polythene bag.

With her thrown over my shoulder, I dumped Isabella on the bed but when I moved to plug the blower, she tried to escape.

"Lift a muscle and I'll move your bed into my room, we'd co-ed" I warned her.

"Like grandfather would allow it," she scoffed.

"Try me " I dared her

After an intense staredown, Isabella took her eyes away with a defeated sigh.

"Do whatever benefits you,"

With the socket plugged in the socket at her bedside, Isabella turned her back to me while I kneeled behind, and unloosened the towel from her head.

But the first air that was blown into her hair had Isabella screaming like a banshee.

"Ahh! Do you want to set my hair on fire, don't you know how to adjust the temperature? You want me to go bald at this age, is that your new plan?!" She beset me with questions.

Oh, that skipped my mind. Mine was always at the right temperature hence the forgetfulness.

"Sorry" I apologized.

Perhaps, it was on purpose or not, I couldn't tell, but Isabella was incredibly hard to please or maybe it was just my poor saloon skills - but Maya made it look so easy.

"Hey, not there! Do you want to damage my ear?!"

"Pull gently, it's strands of hair, not sheep's wool!"

"Comb carefully, I don't want my hair falling off !"

"I swear, I'll torment you for the rest of eternity if I get a receding hairline after this! "

"Pull my hair in a ponytail, not a *Hipster Alpaca, who even gave you the qualification to be my father!"

At last, it was done - after Isabella's incessant nagging - the torture of blow-drying my daughter's hair.

Isabella couldn't wait to get off from the bed - away from me- she was quick to dismiss me.

"You can leave now since you've succeeded in giving me the nightmare I would never forget "

"Fine," I grumpily stood up from her bed, " Have fun"

She gave me a look of disdain, "The next time you come into my room without permission, don't blame me if you lose your leg"

I chuckled, "Are you going to plant a mine?"

"Who knows?" She smirked.

I shook my head, she was not going to do it anyway, it was all talks -Isabella knew her limit.

"And by the way, I liked you better when you were an asshole, now I hate you, stop loving me!" She shouted after me and banged her door shut.

Teenagers, who said it was easy to train one? But my heart swelled with joy anyway.

Since she was detesting my affections towards her, that could only mean one thing: I was slowly breaking down her walls and she knows it and was afraid of letting me in.

A wide grin broke across my face, I was slowly capturing her heart - what a great achievement.

But that gladness fell off my face when I walked into a certain figure in my room.

What was she doing here?

"Niklaus" she walked up to me and tried to kiss me but I shifted to the side.

Her face fell, a sign of disappointment but who cares? Ever since that video got into my hands, the sight of her disgusted me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, irritated.

"Is that the way to welcome your fiancee?"

I glowered at her, "Either explain yourself or you get the f*ck out of my room"

She huffed, "Fine! I came so we visit Maya together"

My eyes narrowed, "Why are you so interested in Maya recently?"

"Haven't I always been interested in her?"

"Yes, you have but your recent obsession is suspicious"

She sighed, "I'm engaged to a man who's obsessed with another woman and now she's injured, I have to go with him to ensure nothing happens between the both of them" she added firmly, "How's that for a reason?"

I shook my head in disbelief, this was like the pot calling the kettle black "You're a witch, you know that?"

She clicked her tongue, "Yes, I know which is why I'm trying my best to be nice to Maya since I've gotten what I wanted - you "

"Get out of my room, I need to shower "

"I've seen you naked a lot of times, Niklaus. Getting out of here wouldn't make any difference because I have the memory in here" she tapped her finger against the side of her head indicating her brain.

My face hardened," Get out of my room, now !" I growled at her.

"Fine, whatever " she sashayed out of my room.

I restrained myself from acting upon my anger and walked into the bathroom. The cold shower helped me calm down and strategize carefully.

Tina's days were numbered, I didn't react for a reason: I was piling and digging up her dirty secrets; our engagement party would be a blissful one.

Done with the shower, I dressed quickly and headed downstairs in the living room where she was nonchalantly going through the television channels.

Fine, let's act the obedient boyfriend for a while.

Thankfully, during the drive, she didn't bring up a discussion. She was smart enough to know I wouldn't contribute a thing, so she busied herself with her cellphone.

I was nervous at the thought of meeting Maya, especially now she was awake but the woman beside me didn't notice it.

When we reached our room, Tina knocked on the door before going in but who I never expected to see in Maya's room was my father.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before he smirked and walked out of the room, shoving past me at the door.

A lot of thoughts passed through my head, what was he doing here? What did he discuss with Maya? Did he threaten? Though she hid it, I could see her pale complexion - he must have hurt her.

I went after the old man albeit it was too late - I lost him. My hands went to my pocket intending to pull out my phone but frowned when I met nothing.

How was that possible... Isabella.