Antonio walked up to me and patted my cheek.

"Not so tough now, are you? Where's all that fight from earlier, huh?"

I spat a mouthful of blood onto his face. "If you've got the guts, just kill me."

Antonio wiped his face and furiously shouted, "Fine! If death is what you want, death is what you'll get!"

But instead of making a move, he pulled out his phone and opened a live stream.

"Guys, check this out. Today we're catching a criminal live!" He shoved the camera in my face, his voice dripping with exaggeration.

"This scumbag posed as a security guard to sneak into my aunt's house, but he's actually a mobster. He just beat up several of my guys!"

The viewer count in the live stream skyrocketed. Netizens, unaware of the truth, flooded the comments section with vicious insults.

"This guy deserves to be shot!"

"He totally looks like a criminal. Just look at those mean eyes."

"Good job, streamer! Justice always wins!"

Antonio soaked in the comments, his ego swelling with every word.

He pointed at the scar on the back of my hand and said to the camera, "See this scar? This is proof he's in the mafia. This is the mark of a criminal!"

I clenched my teeth. The cold wind sneaked in through my collar, making me shiver uncontrollably.

Yet I didn't utter a single word. Instead, I just kept my eyes locked on Antonio.

"What are you staring at?" Antonio pulled out a folding knife from his pocket and waved it around. The blade glinted harshly against the snow.

"Since this scar is proof of your crimes, how about I help you get rid of it?" he asked, grinning sinisterly. "Long ago, a warrior had poison scraped from his bones. Today, I'll scrape the wickedness from yours."

"Antonio, isn't this against the law?" Bianca asked hesitantly from the sidelines.

"Of course not! In fact, I'm being a good Samaritan." Antonio shot her a glare. "Bianca, you're just too soft-hearted. This guy played with your feelings and tried to harm your whole family, yet you still feel sorry for him?"

Bianca looked at me, then at the barrage of comments cheering Antonio on. Her gaze slowly turned cold.

"You're right, Antonio. People like him don't deserve sympathy."

Antonio grinned triumphantly. "That's more like it. Come on, light this for me. The blade needs disinfecting. Wouldn't want him dying from an infection. That'd ruin the fun."

He pulled a lighter from his pocket and handed it to Bianca.

I watched the woman who once promised to love me forever, who once said my scar was a mark of honor, now take the lighter with shaking hands. She then flicked it on and held the flame beneath the blade.

The blue flame licked at the knife's edge, and with it, the last trace of my feelings for her burned away.

"Enzo, don't hate me for this. You're the one who lied to me first," Bianca murmured, unable to meet my eyes.

Antonio waved the heated blade in front of my face. "This might sting a little, so just bear with it."

He grabbed my bound left hand and positioned the tip of the knife against the scar. "Admit that you're in the mafia!"

I looked up at the swirling snowflakes falling from the sky and screamed at the top of my lungs, "I'm Enzo Moretti, former special forces captain in the peacekeeping force. To hell with the mafia!"

"Still running your mouth, huh?" Antonio snapped furiously.

The blade sank into my skin, and blood immediately gushed out.

Right at that very moment, a thunderous crash erupted as the compound's iron gate was sent flying by an immense force, making it slam heavily onto the snow-covered ground.

Several army-green off-road vehicles burst through like enraged beasts, their blinding high beams flooding the entire yard with light as bright as day.

Before the vehicles had even fully stopped, doors were flung open. A squad of heavily armed men in camouflage tactical gear leaped out. They moved in perfect unison, bristling with deadly intent.

At the front stood a powerfully built man with a rugged, commanding face. He spotted me right away, tied to the tree with my hands covered in blood. In that instant, his eyes reddened.

A roar ripped from deep within his throat. "How dare you lay hands on Capitano Moretti?"