Yeah, I deserved the slap?

I'm fucked again, aren't I?

That was Alden's last thought before his untimely demise.

RIP.

…Or at least, that's what he expected.

Instead, he heard a whisper.

A very quiet one.

"Give it back."

It was undeniably Cipher's voice… But the calm, confident tone from before was gone.

"I said, 'Give it back," she repeated, just a bit louder.

Alden kept his face blank. He stepped forward and silently placed the bra back on the table.

For a moment, Cipher said nothing.

Then—smack.

Alden felt a stinging pain on his left cheek. The sound of the slap echoed across the room.

"Pervert," Cipher muttered under her breath, staring at him like he was some bottom-of-the-barrel degenerate.

Alden's head nearly snapped ninety degrees.

Thankfully, Cipher had clearly held back.