BOUND TO MY FATHERS ENEMY: Hating Him Was Easy…Until I Started Wanting Him

CHAPTER FOUR: THE HOUSE THAT WATCHES

The gates sealed behind us with a final sound that settled deep in my chest. It did not feel like an arrival. It felt like I had just been locked in. I turned slightly, watching the road disappear behind iron bars, and something inside me tightened as the car carried me further forward. There was no going back. The driveway stretched ahead, long and narrow, lined with tall trees that blocked out most of the light. The deeper we drove, the more the outside world faded until there was nothing left but the house waiting at the end. When it came into view, I understood immediately. This place was not meant to feel safe. It was meant to control.

This is where you live? I asked. Yes, Kessler replied. The car stopped. The driver opened my door, but I stayed still for a moment, with my eyes fixed on the structure in front of me. Nothing about it felt welcoming. You should get out, Kessler said. I should leave, I answered. He stepped out without replying, then turned and waited. That quiet patience forced a decision I did not want to make.

I stepped out. The air felt colder here, heavier, as if the space itself carried weight. As we approached, the doors opened before we reached them. Staff stood inside, silent and still. They did not speak, but their posture made one thing clear. They were careful around him. I walked in, the silence inside pressed harder than outside.

Every step I took echoed softly against polished floors, the sound was too sharp in the stillness. Nothing was out of place. Nothing felt personal. This way, Kessler said. I am not going anywhere with you inside this house, I replied. He stopped and turned. You are already here. That does not mean I will stay. His eyes held mine without shifting. You will stay because you do not understand what happens if you leave. Then explain it, I demanded.

“No.” The answer landed clean and final. You do not get to decide everything, I said. I am deciding what keeps you alive, he replied. He turned and continued walking. Your room is upstairs. I am not sleeping here. “You will.” I followed him. The hallway stretched long and silent, lined with identical doors, each one closed, each one hiding something I could not see.

We stopped at the last door, he opened it, and commanded! “Stay here.” I stepped inside. The room was large and everything was arranged with intention.

Like it was prepared for me. I turned back and told him that I was not your responsibility. My father would never…“He did.” The interruption cut through me. And he had a reason, he added. What reason? He did not answer, instead, he stepped back and locked the door. From who? From anything you do not understand yet. Then he left. The door shut. I locked the door without thinking, then turned back into the room, scanning it again, slower this time. Everything felt placed. That thought stayed with me. I moved back to the door and opened it quietly. The hallway was empty. I moved along the corridor, my eyes shifting from door to door until something broke the pattern.

A small sign sat beside it. “RESTRICTED ACCESS” My pulse tightened. I stepped closer, and this was where the answers were. I reached for the handle, but It did not move. I glanced behind me and still there was nothing. I leaned in, pressing my ear lightly against the door. “You should not be here.” I turned, only to see Kessler standing at the end of the hallway.

I had not approached him yet, Not a single step. How do you do that? I asked. You are focused on the wrong things, he replied. He walked towards me and stopped a few steps away. That door is not for you. What is inside it? I asked! He looked at me and said, “Your father.” My breath caught. That does not make sense. Not the man you knew, he said, but the truth about him.

The words settled heavily. I want to see it. You are not ready. “I agreed with that.” Something in his expression hardened. You think I am your enemy. I said nothing. I might be, he continued. Or I might be the only reason you are still alive. The words held. Then, a sharp click cut through the hallway. Both of us turned back, and the lights flickered once. What was that? Kessler did not answer. His posture shifted, his attention locking onto something beyond me. “Go back to your room,” he said.

Why? Because someone just confirmed where you are. What do you mean someone? He did not look at me. This house is monitored, he said. But not only by me. Cold settled through me. I looked down the hallway. It was empty and still, then a voice broke through the silence. “She is inside.” My breath stopped. I turned to Kessler. What was that? His expression did not change, but something in his stillness sharpened. “That,” he said quietly, is why you cannot leave. The lights flickered again. And this time, they went out.