Just then, a few men begin to emerge from behind the trees, one by one.
They were the same men who were searching for someone in the forest earlier. Seeing them now, it looked like they had finally found what they were looking for.
Leading them was a man about 6 feet 2 inches tall, dressed in a grey three-piece suit. His eyes were completely cold in that moment.
His face was also covered with a mask, but it was quite different from everyone else's.
The man stared at the boy for a few moments, then slowly took off his mask and threw it aside.
As soon as he removed it, his face became clearly visible in the soft moonlight.
His skin was fair, and his deep black eyes looked icy and cruel, as if there was no emotion left in them.
His nose was sharp and long, adding to his handsome appearance. His lips were slightly dry and red.
But the most striking feature was his **jawline**—sharp and chiseled, giving his dangerous look even more edge. His light beard and mustache enhanced the rugged charm of his face. His slightly wavy hair was slicked back neatly, glimmering faintly with a brown shine.
Another noticeable thing on his face was an old scar that ran from his left eyebrow down to his cheek.
Hearing the footsteps, the boy looked in the direction from which the man was approaching. The moment he saw him, fear flooded into his eyes.
The boy tried to get up, but it felt as if his legs were paralyzed—completely numb. He gathered his strength and tried to stand again, only to fall down once more.
Despite trying again and again, he couldn't succeed.
The man was walking toward him with determined steps.
Seeing him get closer, the boy began to crawl away, refusing to give up.
Seeing this, the man's brow arched slightly. He quickly stepped forward and stood right in front of the boy. The boy stopped crawling.
The man crouched down in front of him. His eyes were icy, emotionless—devoid of any trace of humanity. He lowered his head slightly and stared into the boy's eyes as if reading his every move.
**"I must give you credit for your courage..."** he said with a slight, but dangerous smile.
**"Even in front of me, you're refusing to give up. You're still trying to escape?"**
His voice was utterly cold.
He chuckled softly, but there was no warmth in that smile. Then he pulled out a phone from his pocket, tapped a few buttons on the screen, and held it out in front of the boy.
**"You want to run away, right?"** he said in a low but piercing tone.
**"I'll give you a fair chance... but before you do, just watch this video once."**
The boy's heartbeat quickened. He looked at the screen, but everything appeared blurry. His eyes kept blinking, but he still couldn't see anything clearly.
The man noticed.
**"Oh... I forgot,"** he said with fake concern.
**"You can't see nearby objects clearly, can you?"**
He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses. Without any gentleness, he placed them on the boy's eyes.
**"Now watch... and watch closely,"** he whispered, his voice filled with a chilling sense of dread.
Within seconds of wearing the glasses, the boy's blurred vision began to clear, and now he could see the video playing on the phone properly.
As the video progressed, shock spread across his eyes. The color drained from his face, and his lips began to tremble slightly—as if he had seen something he could never have imagined, even in his worst nightmares.
Moments later, tears started flowing uncontrollably from his eyes. He couldn't understand whether what he was seeing was real or some kind of illusion.
His throat went dry. He shook his head in pain, as if refusing to believe it. But the truth was right there in front of his eyes.
The man slightly lowered his head, his voice as cold as ever.
**"Hurts, doesn't it?"** he whispered near the boy's ear with a chilling laugh, like he already knew this would happen.
He looked into the boy's tear-filled eyes and said with a mocking, deadly smile:
**"You worked so hard... and in a single moment, everything was ruined."**
**"I really feel bad for you. I truly do."**
**"I mean, watching all your efforts fall apart in an instant—anyone would feel terrible. But what can we do? You were just born unlucky. And now, I'm going to make that bad luck even worse."**
There was not a trace of sympathy in his voice—only a ruthless grin, enough to crush the boy's already broken spirit.
**"It hurts, right? I felt the same pain when, in front of a thousand people, at the wedding altar, you humiliated me and ran away. You didn't even look back once. You ruined my reputation in front of everyone!"**
His eyes turned red with rage.
The boy looked into his eyes, took a deep breath, and said softly,
**"I didn't want to marry you. You knew that well. I told you I didn't want to, and still you were forcing me into it. What else could I have done but run? You left me no other choice. I begged you. I pleaded. But you didn't stop. Why are you so determined to ruin my life?"**
As he spoke, tears began streaming down his cheeks again, but his tears had no effect on the man. His face remained just as cold and unfeeling as before—as if he were devoid of any emotion.
The man stared at him for a few moments, then sighed coldly and said,
**"You're going to marry me no matter what. There's no option not to, darling."**
**"By running, you've basically dug your own grave."**
**"If you had calmly gone through with the wedding, maybe I would have respected you. But after what you pulled... there's no respect left for a runaway like you."**
**"You'll stay with me, marry me, and even live this forced marriage. And after the wedding, I'll show you what humiliation really means."**
He said, staring at the boy with a cold gaze.
The boy had been trying to control his anger for a long time—but now he couldn't hold it in any longer. He glared at the man and shouted:
**"I won't! I won't! I won't marry you! Never!"**
The man's brow twitched at his outburst.
The boy was breathing heavily now.
**"I won't marry you. And even if you forcefully marry me, you'll gain nothing. I'll never accept you!"** he shouted, looking him straight in the eyes.
Hearing this, a dangerous glint appeared in the man's eyes. He laughed softly—but it was a terrifying laugh.
**"Then don't accept me. I don't care. I'm not going to accept you either."**
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