The man she called ‘dad’ managed to find or contact her no matter how many times she changed her phone number and hid by moving to a new place. It wasn’t easy to completely cut off her father, who knew about her past.

Top star Yoo Jeong Hwa should have been a person who had grown up receiving lots of love in a wealthy family, not from a poor neighborhood.

Yoo Mi Kyung was a completely different person from Yoo Jeong Hwa, whom the world knew. No, she was an altogether nonexistent person. Her parents were overseas students, and Yoo Jeong Hwa, who had lived without any lack in that wealthy family, was a princess from birth.

Jeong Hwa did not think of her wrapped up self as a lie. She had to erase Yoo Mi Kyung, who had suffered in a shabby, pathetic environment and a poor family background, to become Yoo Jeong Hwa, welcomed by everyone. Therefore, she merely chose the appearance that everyone liked.

In that way, her parents couldn’t provide any help in her success as Yoo Jeong Hwa.

Unable to resist the coercion, her mother, who had to work as a housemaid in the president’s house where her father served, always came home exhausted. And one day, she suddenly disappeared. After that, her young self had to do everything from running errands in that house to housemaid work.

As a child, she was devoted to the company’s president, hanging on for promotions, but now, it was routine to exploit her daughter’s labor. Could this man, who splurges all the money he gets and then extends his hand to his daughter, really be my father?

“How can you be my dad? You’re just a bloodsucking leech!”
Mi Kyungah, your father feels hurt when you say things like that.
“You’re not my father!”
Yoo Byung Hwan’s absurd words made Jeong Hwa lose her temper, rampaging like a crazed beast. She writhed in hatred that devoured her flesh and bone.

Just remember that it’s not because you did so well on your own that you became a celebrity! As long as I keep your secret, I’ve done my duty as your father. You must understand what I’m saying by now?
“This crazy… It’s all because of who!”
Who caused me to be obsessed with money and fame to the point where I abandoned the first man I ever loved! The greed in me, panting with thirst for more than I have, who caused it!

This world was a hellhole, and Yoo Byung Hwan, who was threatening his daughter viciously, was both a beast and a devil.

That’s how it was for Yoo Jeong Hwa.

Stop the chitchat and send more money. More than what you sent today…
“Please, stop!”
Bang!

Jeong Hwa, who smacked the phone with a picture frame hanging on the art wall, hurriedly headed towards the minibar.

“Son of a… I swear I’ll kill you!”
A mother who ran away to live on her own? A father who thinks of his child as a moneymaking machine? Don’t make me laugh! You made me even more orphaned than an actual orphan!

Jeong Hwa, who grabbed a bottle of liquor, gulped down that large amount of alcohol.

Gulp, gulp, gulp…

She couldn’t taste the bitterness even though she was continually swallowing the undiluted liquor.

The life of Yoo Mi Kyung was much bitter than the harsh liquor.

A luxury sedan entering the apartment complex in Dogokdong gently stopped in front of the building where So Yeon lived.

“Ah, no. You can just stay there.”
Seeing Bong Manager, who was trying to open the rearseat door out of courtesy towards a lady, So Yeon quickly got out of the car, adamantly dissuading him.

“Thank you for giving me a lift.”
So Yeon, who slightly bent over the opened window of the closed car door, gently greeted Seo Jun, who turned his head to look at her while still seated.

“……”
So typical of Eom So Yeon.

Seo Jun chuckled after a brief pause. Watching her, whose speed of departure was several times faster than her arrival, he couldn’t help but laugh.

But Seo Jun, aware that it was entirely his subjective feeling, spoke with a slowly receding smile.

“I don’t know when the shooting will end tomorrow, so call me as soon as you finish your work.”
“If there’s no set time, don’t push yourself. You can do it the day after tomorrow.”
“I’ll handle that.”
“Yes.”

She hadn’t just drunk coffee at the office. They had shared a simple kiss there. Having Tae Seo Jun right in front of her and uttering her lines made So Yeon’s heart pound, her breathing was unnatural. It still bothered her.

After about an hour of practice, they left the office and had dinner together.

The unexpected gift of a bag and her offer to treat Seo Jun to a meal at his favorite cold noodle place in return for getting her chicken last time were nice, but it filled her heart with pride to steal glances at him as he enjoyed the cold noodles with meat pancakes.

However, she felt odd about Seo Jun’s increasing frequency of using informal speech with her. It felt like they had become somewhat closer, but she also felt a sense of unease about it.

‘If you feel wronged, Miss Eom So Yeon, you can also speak informally.’

That was what he had said, and it was still floating in her head.