The new schedule started the next morning with silence.

Alexander did not wake me for my mouth. He did not call me into the office. He left before sunrise and sent a single message at 11:02 a.m.:

Be naked in the dining room at 6. Knees on the chair. Hands on the table. Do not move until I arrive.

I obeyed.

At 6:40 the elevator finally opened. I kept my eyes down and my body exactly as instructed—kneeling on the hard seat of the dining chair, torso bent forward, palms flat on the polished wood, ass presented. Footsteps approached. He circled me once. A single finger traced the length of...