“Is that coffee for me?”
So Yeon had spotted a wellknown brand of coffee quietly placed on his desk.

“I’m sure you mentioned having tea.”
He was certainly not a man of empty words.

A charming, adorable blush bloomed on So Yeon’s cheeks, dimples making their presence felt at this revelation.

“Can I finish my coffee here?”
As meek as she had been moments ago, her audacious request now was commendable.

“Of course, Miss Eom So Yeon.”
Seo Jun gestured her to sit, casually pointing towards the sofa, before he coolly moved towards his desk.

Lowering herself onto the sofa, So Yeon gently smoothed down her pleated miniskirt that had ridden up to the middle of her thighs.

That was when it happened.

Something rather large plonked down onto So Yeon’s lap.

“Oops!”
The luxurious shopping bag didn’t seem like a common brand, given its prominent logo on the exterior.

Inside was a large brown leather bag, big enough to easily accommodate a laptop. So Yeon pulled it out and scrutinized it carefully in her hands.

It was a design with zippers, allowing it to be used as both a satchel and a backpack.

“You’re not giving me this, are you?”
“Why not?”
As So Yeon blinked her big eyes in surprise, Seo Jun elegantly placed two cups of coffee on the table without another word, and sat down next to her.

Her attire, far removed from highend brands, was refreshingly simple. Even though she was a celebrity, he had never seen her with even a single luxury bag.

Seo Jun, who had visited his favorite store yesterday, suddenly remembered this and bought one for her as well. The reason was simply that what more needed to be said?

He finished his explanation with a casual twoword phrase that even joking about finding it on the street would be too grandiose.

“Why this?”
“Just because.”
“….”
Just because, for giving something so expensive?

Well, it was him, the person who had always been angry. There couldn’t be any other meaning.

After gazing at Seo Jun’s sleek features for a while, So Yeon shook her head slightly and brought the straw of her coffee cup to her lips.

“I sent it! That money you like so much! Isn’t that enough? Why are you calling again!”
A shrill voice erupted from within a luxurious villa in Banpodong. It was Yoo Jeong Hwa, screaming as if she was vomiting blood while speaking to her father.

“Do you want to see me go crazy? Am I your bank? How much more do I have to squeeze out for you to stop!”
Even if I’m pathetic, I’m still your father. How can you talk to me like that?
“Shut up! Why can’t I!”
Jeong Hwa shivered at the sound of her despised father’s voice. Her hand clutching the phone trembled. It was a hand that had once been full of dreams but was now lean and frail, consumed by greed.

“You caused Mom to suffer like that! I suffered so much because of you! And yet, you’re still talking about money? Are you really my father? Hah! Don’t make me laugh!”
When his daughter continued her tirade, Yoo Byung Hwan seemed to forget what he was going to say for a moment and just called his daughter’s name over and over.

Yoo Mi Kyung, Mi Kyung…
“Don’t call me like that! It gives me the creeps!”
The name she had discarded a long time ago made her grit her teeth. As her name flowed out from the tiny machine, her eyelids, which no longer produced tears, twitched with a dark, reddish fury.

A rare beauty, an actress of exceptional beauty.

Though one would imagine Yoo Jeong Hwa had only walked a path of roses due to her radiant beauty, the reality was far from it.

There was a time when there was no Yoo Jeong Hwa, only Yoo Mi Kyung. A childhood where she would have preferred being an orphan.

Even though Yoo Byung Hwan had a decent job in a decent company, he had gambled away everything at the mere sight of money. Then one day, the mother who had suffered from poverty and all sorts of violence from her husband, left the house as if she were fleeing.

What the eightyearold girl had to handle after that was nothing short of a nightmare.

Jeong Hwa, who had to do laundry, cook and do all the house chores with her tiny hands, had to endure the biting cold of winter with just a single blanket. In fact, she had to go around the neighborhood asking for money in order to have a peaceful day.

This was due to her father, who would brutally beat his daughter if there was no money, even the money she had brought in.

People who clicked their tongues, saying it was pitiful.

People who sympathized and put whatever they could into her small hands.

She had become accustomed to being cautious among them, but it wasn’t enough to save her from suffering. The real beginning of her misery had started when she was about to turn 15.

Jeong Hwa, who had passed through that dark tunnel, became an actress thanks to her particularly attractive appearance. And as soon as she changed her name, she cut off ties with her biological father.

But fate was so tenacious.