The Rise Of The Feared Mafia Boss

3

"Leo... please help me..."

The voice was weak, trembling, and filled with despair. It was Sarah’s voice. The woman he once considered his reason for living, the woman he trusted would be the mother of his children.

But now, that voice felt like a sharp knife twisting deep inside his wounded heart.

Leo froze stiff. His fingers gripped the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The air in the small room seemed to be sucked out instantly.

On the other end, Sarah was sobbing uncontrollably. "Leo, I know you're alive. I know you didn't die. Please, answer me..."

Leo closed his eyes for a moment, trying to hold back the explosion of emotions raging inside him. Love, anger, disappointment—all mixed together into a deadly poison.

"What do you want, Sarah?" Leo’s voice came out cold, flat, and devoid of emotion. As if he were speaking to a complete stranger.

"I... I need your help. They... they are hurting me, Leo. Marco forces me to do things I don't want. He told me you were dead, but I know it's a lie. I know you're strong, you must have survived."

Leo let out a short, bitter laugh. A laugh that sounded cynical and painful.

"Forces you? Sarah... last night... you were there, weren't you? You watched them search me, beat me, and shoot me."

"NO!" Sarah screamed in denial, her voice shrill. "It was all forced, Leo! I was scared! They threatened to kill my family if I didn't do what they wanted! I had no choice!"

"No choice?" Leo opened his eyes, and within them burned an ocean of raging fire. "Your choice was to live comfortably with their stolen money rather than dying by my side? Your choice was to become the Queen on a throne you stole from me?"

"Leo, listen to me... please... I still love you. You are the only man in my heart. Marco is just a monster! Please come and save me, I beg you..." Her voice turned into a heartbreaking plea.

In the room, Toro sat in the corner, silently shaking his head while rolling his tobacco. He could see the inner battle raging in his student’s heart. That woman was Leo’s greatest weakness. Or perhaps... she was the deadliest bait of all.

Leo took a long, deep breath, trying to calm his chaotic mind. His killer instinct was screaming that something was wrong.

Why now? Why exactly right after he woke up and answered the phone?

"Where are you?" Leo asked sharply.

"I'm at the villa on the outskirts of town. In our old bedroom. I'm locked up here. There are only a few guards. Leo, hurry before Marco comes back..."

"Fine." Leo answered shortly. "Wait for me."

He ended the call abruptly.

"Young Master..." Toro finally spoke. "It's a trap. It's obviously a trap. They know you're alive, and they are using that woman as bait to lure you out."

"I know, Grandpa." Leo stood up, putting on his thick leather jacket. "Of course it is. Sarah is not smart enough to devise a strategy like this. This must be Marco’s doing."

"Then why are you going?"

"Because I need answers." Leo strapped his knife and gun to his waist with swift, expert movements. "I want to see just how far they are willing to go. And I want to see firsthand... if there is even a shred of guilt in Sarah's eyes when she looks at me."

Leo smiled slightly, a smile that looked more like a devil’s grin.

"Besides... they think I'm still wounded and weak. They think I'm coming like an obedient puppy waiting to be slaughtered."

He straightened his clothes, his posture changing completely. The weakness and submission were gone, replaced by the deadly aura of a Demon King.

"They set up the net. But they forgot... if what comes is not a bird, but an Eagle ready to tear apart the guts of anyone who dares stand in its way."

At the Villa

Sarah collapsed onto the soft bed the moment she ended the call. Her face was deathly pale, her hands trembling violently.

Suddenly, the bedroom door swung wide open. Marco walked in with long strides and an arrogant face. He laughed loudly while wrapping an arm around Sarah’s shoulders.

"Good, sweetheart! Very good! Your voice just now was so convincing. Even I almost believed you were really suffering!"

Sarah pushed his hand away roughly, clear tears streaming down her cheeks. "You liar! You said you just wanted to talk to him! You said you wouldn't hurt him! Look at what I just did! I called death itself for the man I love most!"

Marco grabbed Sarah’s chin firmly, forcing her to look into his evil eyes.

"Listen here, you cheap woman! Leo is already dead! His heart died the moment you betrayed him! And soon, his body will be shattered into pieces too!"

Marco pointed towards the window and the thick curtains.

"Look out there. I have placed fifty snipers and a hundred heavily armed men. The moment Leo steps foot into this yard... he will turn into a sieve!"

"You're crazy!!" Sarah screamed hysterically. "He loves me! He's coming because he trusts me!"

"That is exactly his stupidity! Love turns strong men into fools!" Marco laughed triumphantly. "And today, I will behead your ex-lover right in front of your own eyes. And after that, you will be mine forever!"

Marco released his grip and patted Sarah’s cheek slowly in a demeaning manner.

"Prepare yourself, sweetheart. The stage for the death drama is about to begin."

In Front of the Villa Gate

The night grew deeper. A thin mist began to envelop the luxurious housing complex.

An old motorcycle stopped not far from the iron gates of the villa. Leo got off, staring at the magnificent building that was once his happiest place, now transformed into a den of death.

He could sense it. Danger was everywhere. Behind every bush, behind every window, there were hundreds of eyes watching and hundreds of gun barrels ready to unleash hell.

"So, they are really serious about killing me..." Leo muttered softly, then grinned widely. The face looking back was no longer that of a loving man, but the face of the most dangerous killer alive.

He didn't walk through the front gate. That would be too easy, too stupid.

Leo moved like a shadow. He scaled the high walls with incredible speed and agility, avoiding security cameras one by one with perfect precision.

He knew the layout of this house better than anyone. He was the one who designed the security system. He was the one who knew exactly where the guards' blind spots were.

Thud.

One by one, guards standing watch in dark corners suddenly collapsed without making a sound. Their necks were snapped or stabbed with a lethal wire knife.

Leo moved without a sound. Like a ghost. Like the shadow of death itself.

Finally, he arrived beneath the window of his old bedroom. He could see the silhouette of the woman he had missed so much behind the curtains. Sarah.

Carefully, Leo climbed the water pipe up to the balcony. His hand touched the glass door handle. Slowly, he pushed it open.

The night wind blew the thin curtains aside. And there, in the middle of the room, stood Sarah with a terrified face.

Their eyes met.

"Leo..." Sarah whispered softly, tears immediately flowing uncontrollably.

Leo stood in the doorway, his long, dark shadow covering the entire room. His face was cold, his gaze sharp enough to pierce the soul.

"I'm here, Sarah..." Leo’s voice was low and commanding.

"You said you wanted me to save you..."

Step by step, Leo walked inside. The wooden floor creaked softly.

"So tell me... where is the trap? Under the bed? Or behind that wardrobe?"

Sarah froze, her body shaking violently. She couldn't answer, she could only cry and look at Leo with overwhelming guilt.

TRAAKK!

The main door of the room was kicked open! Hundreds of floodlights turned on simultaneously, blinding Leo with their brightness. And in the doorway stood Marco holding a machine gun, followed by dozens of men ready to fire.

"WELCOME BACK, OLD FRIEND!" Marco shouted with a voice full of triumph.

"Finally, you came to your own slaughterhouse!"