Late at night, Nina realizes she is locked in the attic. After hours of pounding and screaming, Andrew informs her no one can hear because the space below is soundproofed. He refuses to release her, saying she must learn consequences for letting dark roots show, and leaves her there overnight.

Exhausted, Nina falls asleep on a cot. In the morning she wakes in pain, desperate to use a bathroom she cannot access, and uses a bucket left in the closet. She finds three small water bottles in a mini-fridge and carefully rations them, understanding the confinement was planned.

Andrew returns to the door and says Cecelia is with his mother, Evelyn. He reframes hair as a privilege and demands Nina pluck and surrender one hundred hairs with visible roots, placing them in provided envelopes, as the price of release. He rejects hair from a brush and leaves for work, promising to return by seven.

Nina tries to comply immediately but Andrew departs anyway. Realizing pleas are useless, she conserves strength, focuses on meeting his demand, and resolves to take Cecelia and escape as soon as she is freed, recognizing Andrew’s calculated and escalating abuse.