Niklaus point of view:

Cold showers became the norm of the night. Each time I closed my eyes, erotic dreams featuring Maya as my companion dominated my senses.

I knew it was my subconscious playing tricks on me. It was taking advantage of the memory of Maya in bed and replaying in my mind with its twist borrowed from my past imagination and I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed it but not when I had to relieve myself for the umpteenth time in the bathroom.

Seeing that sleeping was an unachievable feat, I stayed awake the rest of the night, using that opportunity to go about how to punish my daughter.

Isabella had inherited her mother's manipulative trait or rather her late mother inculcated it in her. She knew I was feeling guilty for her mother's death and tended to take advantage of that.

That was why I didn't have the heart to spank her instead resorted to giving her punishments but it seems the girl was now immune to them.

Moreover, the idea of smacking my idea on the butt with a cane didn't sit well with me especially after what I had experienced in the hands of Adam in the name of toughening me up; I was a man and had to be strong. So spanking my daughter was a no-go area.

But I had to come up with something, the girl was getting naughtier to the point of being morally reprehensible. Her deplorable character was beginning to become a cause for concern and if I don't do something about it soon, I'll truly lose this daughter of mine or she harms someone in the name of fun.

I don't want to raise a daughter that can't accept what's morally right, no! I have to cut short her overgrown wings before she's beyond redeemable.

So I went over the plans in my head throughout what's left of the night that when the early morning came, I took a quick bath and called Austin over, giving him a list and briefed the head guard on what I wanted them to set up.

Just as I was through, my phone rang and I glanced at the caller ID, my brows furrowing when I found out it was Eden; I'm about to be given an earful.

"What is it?"

"Keep Isabella away from my daughter" Eden spat before I was even through with my words.

Well, that was expected. My villainous daughter Isabella tainted his innocent angelic daughter, Anabelle.

"There's no need to be tense, they're just kids who are overly curious and tend to be mischievous at times," I said.

"I should not be tense?" There was mocking anger in his tone, "Your daughter fed my daughter alcohol and now she's experiencing her first hangover at age ten"

"They would be eleven the next month" I blurted out before I could swallow back my words - I shouldn't have said that.

"Are you trying to say you're in support of what Isabella did?" Eden asked in disbelief.

"I'm not in support- heck,I'm ashamed of what the girl did and I assure you that she would be punished appropriately but what I can't accept is you dissing my daughter "

" What?"

"Yes, I admit that Isabella led them into drinking but did she shove the drink down Anabelle's throat?" I defended my daughter fiercely, my tone a bit higher than normal but not to the point of yelling.

"You claim your daughter is innocent, then why didn't she refuse the drink? If she's as good as you said, why did Anabelle accept the drink when she clearly knew it was morally wrong to do so at her age?"

It was apparent that Eden was so stunned by the turn of events that he couldn't speak back.

"Isabella is not perfect but I would not have you guys oppress my daughter for the crime of everyone. Do have a nice day" I hung up the call, feeling like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulder.

I would not sit back and watch my daughter become the sacrificial lamb. Perhaps, in the past I wouldn't have cared since I saw Isabella as nothing but a nuisance then, but now? After Maya taught me the joy of being a father, I could now be proud of the little devil God gifted me.

Yeah, I'm a proud father.

Pedro and Anabelle were at fault as well, they should have reported Isabella's doing to Maya but they didn't, which makes them as guilty as Isabella was; they all were partners in crime.

Done with dressing up, I headed to the kitchen to get my morning coffee and was shocked to behold Tina.

"Good morning, darling" Tina greeted and tried to peck me on the cheeks but I grabbed her chin and turned it the other way, she has grown bold.

My voice reached a frosty level as I asked, "It seems you have grown tired of living, do you want to pay a visit to hades?"

To my surprise, Tina laughed coyly and hit me on the chest playfully which left me perplexed.

"You're such a good joker" she patted me on the chest again.

But this time I held her hand off my body," What do you think you're doing? Didn't I warn you not to set foot here again?" Came my reminder.

"I had a talk with your father and he came to a conclusion that I should spend more time with Isabella since our engagement party is fast approaching and I'm going to play a huge role in her life in the future. So your father thinks we should start creating the mother and child bond before we get married"

I rubbed the inside of my ear with a finger, God knows I filtered out everything she said save "my father". No wonder she grew audacious, Tina had renewed her guts by meeting up with my father - my nemesis.

"So I want to strengthen the connection between Isabella and me by cooking her meals every morning before leaving for work" she explained.

I snorted inwardly, I could see her plan. From preparing breakfast for Isabella to sending lunchboxes to me at the office, to spending the night at my place in the guise of waking up early to prepare breakfast, to getting into my bed, does she think I'm stupid?

"Thank you for your nonessential services but I don't need my daughter suffering from food poisoning," I said and turned to prance out of the kitchen since I had lost appetite for the coffee.

"Niklaus, just give me a chance to show my good intentions to Isabella. This is just not about you anymore" She pleaded, grabbing onto my hand.

I glared at her touch prompting Tina to withdraw her grip at once. About to ask her to leave, an idea suddenly struck her.

Isabella detested Tina, leaving my daughter with her seems like a pretty good punishment when added to the impending ones.

"Fine, do whatever you want," I quickly added," For today"

I knew women, once you permitted them once, they would continually seek for allowance.

Knowing this woman was foxy and would seek a way to get into my bed or bother me to no end, I decided to leave for work.

I just had to endure for a short while, soon this shit would be over - just pray Maya hangs in there.

Austin notified me through a call that everything was set up as I wanted. I Instructed him on what to do next and in a few minutes, I was connected to the surveillance camera capturing Isabella in the closed room.

The girl had proved that all my grounding did not affect her so I resorted to this method.

Sometimes, physical punishment wasn't the best approach at taming a rebellious child, the silent approach works better.

I had studied my daughter for a while and understood she had a strong disgust for the color pink, claiming it was childish and nauseatingly girlish.

So imagine what would happen to Isabella when stuck in a room painted pink with glitters to make it worse - that's her worst nightmare.

Adding silence, even the world's most deadly criminal when stuck in a place of inactivity with no means of contact or recreation for quite some time - depending on their mental strength - would crack under such psychological pressure talk more Isabella, the little imp.

I watched her through my laptop, it was not up to an hour, Isabella was beginning to get agitated and she was bored out of her mind.

Isabella wouldn't have been this disturbed if I had sent a gaming device to help her spend the time away. Sadly, if I do that, what's the point of the whole punishment?

During this duration, because she has nothing to do, her brain would be hyperactivated by the loud ticking of the clock in that soundproofed room - hence its function.

She would get restless and the next snap!

"Bingo"

Isabella stood to her feet, spaced up and down around the room before glaring at the door, then rushed at it, pounding her small fist against the metal door.

The video was without sound but I could read lips, so easily deciphered what she was saying.

"Get me the fuck out of here!"

Not long after, a call came in from Austin.

"Sir, she looks hysterical, should we let her out?" He asked out of worry.

"Don't worry, she still has abundant energy to curse" I said, watching Isabella gush out torrents of profanities highly unsuitable for children her age.

This scene made me realize I had given this little daughter of mine too much power, it was time to curtail it.

"Release her in thirty minutes"