Although the sun was setting, Ga Eul was briskly walking down a country road still bright with summer sunshine. Sweat had already formed on her back. She was on her way to the village head’s house after having an early dinner.

Hong Su Jin couldn’t come along. She said the couple had been invited to a dinner party hosted by Jung Mi O’s father, the resort owner. Su Jin had suggested meeting the village head together next time, but Ga Eul chose to go alone.

Because she didn’t know what kind of past about her father might come out of the village head’s mouth. Now she was afraid of sharing her father’s past with others.

These days, Ga Eul was walking a precarious tightrope between people’s condemnation of her father and her own belief that he couldn’t have done such things.

She also felt self-conscious about not being invited to the party that Ki Dae Un, Jung Se Hyun, and Jung Mi O were all attending. She had thought of them as no different from herself, but now she saw that there was a clear line drawn between them and her.

She felt like she understood how Cinderella must have felt not being able to go to the party.

“Yes, I’m Cinderella, the ash-covered girl!”

After falling into self-loathing,

“This isn’t a matter of entertainment and leisure, but of discrimination and opportunity!”

She was also swept up in a desire for reform.

But Ga Eul knew. That in fact, those weren’t the real issues.

It was the thought of Dae Un spending time intimately with the beauty she had seen earlier that was eating away at her heart.

“Turns out Pyeongan Group isn’t all that. Chairman Oh, he may talk big at home but he’s not even recognized outside.”

So I, the granddaughter of Pyeongan Group, can’t even get invited to a dinner party. Even Sung Mok’s father, the director of a small hospital, was invited.

The cake she had bought from the resort bakery felt cumbersome. She’d bought it as a gift for the village head’s house, but now wished she had gotten something smaller and lighter.

A complaint involuntarily escaped Ga Eul’s lips.

“Fine, you all enjoy yourselves in a place with cool air conditioning blasting. I’ll just get heatstroke walking down this country road in this heat…”

Ga Eul stopped her soliloquy as her phone suddenly rang.

– Where are you?

It was Ki Dae Un, the male lead in her tormenting imagination.

“Why do you ask? Shouldn’t you be enjoying your party and forgetting about the likes of me?”

Though she answered the phone happily upon realizing it was Dae Un, her words came out sarcastically.

– I’m asking where you are.

“Well, it’s certainly not at the dinner party venue.”

– Han Ga Eul!

“I’m on my way to the village head’s house right now. I can see the village over there.”

– Alright.

The call abruptly ended.

“How bland.”

Ga Eul muttered, looking down at the phone that had disconnected without another word.

After that, Ga Eul walked in silence. Once the flow of her solo act was interrupted by Dae Un’s call, it was hard to start again. Without talking to herself, the road felt even longer and more difficult.

As she reached the entrance to the village, she heard a car approaching from behind. Ga Eul moved to the side of the road. Then she heard a familiar voice.

“Han Ga Eul!”

Turning at the sound of her name, she saw the boss’s car stopped. Dae Un called out from the driver’s side window.

“Get in!”

Jung Se Hyun, more mannerly than the boss, got out of the passenger seat and opened the car door for Ga Eul.

“What brings you two here?”

Seeing them both dressed in formal suits, it seemed they had slipped away from the party venue.

“Why didn’t you say you were going to meet the village head? You always hide the important things.”

The boss immediately scolded her. The kind Se Hyun answered for her.

“The boss came because he was worried about his employee, and I came because I was scared and ran away.”

Ga Eul wasn’t interested in what Se Hyun was afraid of. She kept trying to suppress a smile at the boss’s words that he had come because he was worried about her.

“Sung Mok’s mother said you might be going to meet the village head. Weren’t you not even invited?”

“I’m sorry, Ga Eul. I wasn’t paying attention. I thought you were obviously invited. As my partner.”

Ga Eul then remembered that Jung Se Hyun’s blind date, Jang Yu Jung, was supposed to come to the dinner party. She should have gone to play the role of Se Hyun’s girlfriend.

“Were you always this reckless? How could you walk alone on a dark country road where no one even passes by? Have you already forgotten that you were kidnapped?”

“So that’s why you rushed here.”

Ga Eul said primly, hiding her touched feelings.

“I had arranged for Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok to come pick me up when I leave. Did you think I live without even that much planning?”

Sung Mok’s mother knew about this too. Hmm, she didn’t say anything. It seems Mrs. Hong is trying to set me up with the boss! Thank you, Mrs. Hong!

* * *

The village head showed interest in the two men who seemed to have some money. He seemed to think they had come to buy land in the village.

“Thank you for meeting with us. I came to ask about something from 5 or 6 years ago. It might be a bit earlier than that. I heard my father tried to buy land in this area.”

“5 or 6 years ago? What is your father’s full name, young lady?”

The village head asked with a disappointed expression.

“His surname is Han, and he uses the characters for ‘bright’ and ‘training’.”

“Ah, President Han!”

As the village head easily recalled her father, Ga Eul felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest.

“If it’s President Han, he didn’t just try to buy land, he actually bought it. That land where they’re building the hotel now, that’s the land President Han accumulated.”

“What? My father bought that land?”

“That’s right. I personally went around finding each landowner to arrange it back then. Seeing a hotel being built on that land now, I thought, being a businessman, he had an eye for land. Not long after, he sold that land to Pyeongan Group as a hotel site.”

“He sold the land to Pyeongan Group? Did you arrange that transaction as well?”

“No, not that. I just knew he must have sold the land to Pyeongan since their hotel is going up there now.”

“Did President Han come alone when he bought the land that no one knew about?”

Dae Un, who had been silent until then, asked.

“At first, several people came together to look around here and there. But when it came time to make contracts, he always came alone. Ah, I think he brought someone once. He came with someone he called his elder brother, I believe.”

“Elder brother…”

Dae Un quickly took out his phone, searched for something, then showed it to the village head.

“Was it perhaps this person?”

The village head stared at it intently but tilted his head.

“It’s hard to tell from this… It was so long ago too.”

Ga Eul caught a glimpse and saw it was Oh Sung Jin’s profile picture. If her father had called the person he came with ‘elder brother’, there was a possibility it was Sung Jin. No, the possibility was high. Considering the land ended up with Pyeongan.

“Is President Han doing well? He said his wife was unwell and that he needed to purchase the land quickly. We haven’t seen him come down since he bought the land.”

“My parents have passed away.”

Ga Eul answered matter-of-factly. She always becomes businesslike when talking about her parents to others. Otherwise, it feels unbearable.

“Oh my, how terrible! What happened? At the prime of their lives!”

The village head was dismayed. He seemed quite shocked to hear such unexpected news.

Ga Eul’s group thanked the village head for sharing the information and left his house.

Though they hadn’t stayed at the village head’s house for very long, the sun had completely set and it was now pitch dark. Without the lights of buildings, the countryside was even darker.

Ga Eul thought it was fortunate that it was so dark. This was not a situation where she wanted others to see her face. Thinking of her father made her heart heavy.

“It would be good to properly investigate how the land was transferred to Pyeongan.”

Jung Se Hyun was the one who broke the silence in the car on the way back.

“Do you think we can find out? I’m not sure if Pyeongan Group will cooperate.”

Ga Eul said in a subdued voice. Considering her phone call with Chairman Oh earlier in the day, it seemed impossible to get Pyeongan’s cooperation.

“We just need to trace the flow of money. Money movements always leave traces. That can’t be faked.”

Dae Un, who was driving, answered. When the boss said it like that, Ga Eul also thought it would work. It didn’t seem difficult at all to investigate.

For the first time, Ga Eul found Dae Un reassuring. Plus, there was Se Hyun too. With these two men by her side, she felt like she could do anything.

But that faith was momentary. It shattered with one phone call.

Soon, Se Hyun’s phone rang.

– Oppa! Where on earth are you?

Before Se Hyun could speak, Jung Mi O’s piercing shout burst from his phone. Ga Eul and Dae Un could hear it too.

“I stepped out for a bit.”

– Dad is furious right now knowing that you and Dae Un oppa slipped out. He says it’s because of Han Ga Eul?

“Who told you that?”

– Does it matter who told me? Someone who overheard you talking with Dae Un oppa told me. Come back quickly! Dad is completely losing it right now.

“Alright. I’m on my way now.”

– You must bring Dae Un oppa too. You know how Dad gets when he’s angry, right? The sparks will fly at me too!

“I said I got it. Hang up now.”

Se Hyun hung up and said,

“Let’s hurry back. Before things get worse.”

As if in response, the car began to move faster.

Ga Eul’s faith in the two men disappeared as quickly as the car was speeding. Can I trust these guys? She felt doubtful.

Back at her lodging, Ga Eul also received a call from Jung Mi O.

– Ga Eul, I didn’t think you were like this. How could you do that?

“Do what?”

Though she had a general idea, Ga Eul asked back. She wanted to know the situation more accurately.

– You took Se Hyun oppa and Dae Un oppa away. Do you know how much effort my dad put into this dinner party? But because you took away two key figures, all his hard work crumbled.

Though she hadn’t taken them away herself, Ga Eul felt somewhat responsible since that’s what they were saying. Hadn’t she also heard that Mi O’s father had planned this party to attract investors?

“I’m sorry. Though I didn’t take them away myself, it’s true that they left the party because of me in the end. But are those two such important figures?”

– You don’t need to apologize to me. I actually think it’s better that those two left. My dad was trying to set up Dae Un oppa with the Heungsan daughter. How could he try to match such a know-it-all queen with Dae Un oppa?

“Heungsan…”

– You know, Heungsan Savings Bank.

Mi O’s voice rose as if frustrated.

– Anyway, my dad is really set on getting you, so you’d better be careful.

“Me? What did I do? I didn’t take your boss and Attorney Jung away. They left on their own.”

– The important thing is that my dad believes you did. I’m warning you. I’m telling you this because you’ve helped me before. My dad is the type to follow through when he says he’ll do something, so be careful.

Mi O hung up after repeatedly telling her to be careful.

The bewilderment was left to Ga Eul. She wasn’t sure how or what she should be careful about. It was a perplexing issue for Ga Eul, who didn’t even know why she needed to be careful.