One month earlier.

Da-hye repeatedly checked the time, anxiously glancing toward the entrance of the banquet hall.

People dressed in elegant suits gathered in small groups, champagne glasses in hand.

A faint trace of confusion spread across Da-hye’s eyes as she searched through the crowd.

By now, he should have arrived long ago. Was traffic bad?

“Why isn’t he here yet?”

She tightened her grip around her silent phone and murmured under her breath.

“Da-hye, is Team Leader Kang still not here?”

“Seriously? I was looking forward to finally seeing your future fiancé. Is he busy again today?”

Right on cue, her friends began teasing her.

Da-hye gave an awkward smile and rose from her seat.

“He must be busy. Hold on, I’ll go call him.”

It had already been over six months since she began dating Kang Ji-hoon with marriage in mind, yet she had never properly introduced him to her friends.

So today, during her father’s exhibition, she had planned to introduce him to them at last.

But for some reason, he was unusually late today.

“…Hmm.”

As she walked toward the emergency exit, she tried calling him again, but there was still no answer.

A slight stiffness settled over Da-hye’s face as she looked back toward the exhibition hall.

[Professor Kyung Jooho’s 21st Oriental Painting Exhibition]

The large banner hanging high above gleamed beneath the lights.

Staring up at it, Da-hye’s eyes darkened quietly.

Today was an important day—the retirement ceremony and personal exhibition of her father, Kyung Jooho, a professor and doctor of East Asian Studies.

Because of the occasion, countless people had gathered to celebrate his retirement.

Reporters, fellow scholars and professors, former students, and even influential figures from the business world who had long been close to Professor Kyung had all come together to honor the final chapter of his career.

Kyung Jooho was an Oriental painter renowned not only in Korea, but throughout Asia.

And Da-hye was the only daughter of that very Professor Kyung.

Da-hye’s mother, Seungmi, had also been the hotel president of a third-generation chaebol family at the time, so Da-hye was born into wealth and raised wanting for nothing throughout her childhood.

Everyone called her a princess.

However, when Da-hye turned thirteen, her mother Seungmi died in an unexpected accident, and from that point on, the life of the girl once called a princess slowly began to unravel.

It would be difficult to say with certainty that everything changed solely because of her mother’s death.

But Da-hye’s life undeniably became unstable after Seungmi’s absence brought a stepmother and stepsister into her life.

While Jooho’s business and reputation continued to flourish, Da-hye’s place within his world gradually began to shrink.

Her father’s love, attention, and financial support slowly began shifting toward Kim Hyejung—now known as Kyung Hyejung—her stepsister.

Da-hye neither grew bitter nor jealous over having to share what had once wholly belonged to her.

Still, she had begun sensing that something was strange.

Because Jooho had started giving more to Hyejung than to his own biological daughter.

“Say hello. This is your new mother and older sister. They’ll be living with us from now on.”

Not long after Seungmi’s death, Jooho remarried a news anchor named Choi Jinhee, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

At first, Da-hye resented him for building a new family without discussing it with her even once.

But she had matured early, and she understood that a child still needed a mother’s care.

So she convinced herself that her father must have hurried to rebuild their family for that reason, and decided she should not hate him entirely.

Yet exactly one month after gaining a new family, Da-hye was sent to study abroad in France.

It was just before she was due to enter a prestigious arts high school, having inherited Jooho’s natural talent for painting.

“Da-hye, you said you wanted to study art, didn’t you? Then go study in France. It’ll help you greatly in many ways.”

To thirteen-year-old Da-hye, that sudden study abroad felt no different from exile.

But at the time, she lacked the strength to defy Jooho’s decision.

Da-hye remembered that it was from then onward that her name slowly began disappearing from the place once filled with warm memories of a happy family.

Whenever she occasionally returned home during breaks, facing her stepmother always felt unbearably awkward.

“Da-hye, you’re staying a bit longer this time? Is it really okay for you to miss such expensive lessons like this?”

Though her stepmother Choi Jinhee always wore a kind smile, her attitude clearly conveyed that she wished Da-hye would hurry back to France as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, her stepsister Hyejung, who was only a year older than her, openly tried to erase Da-hye’s existence from the family.

“Oh, her? She’s just someone living in our house.”

At some point, Hyejung stopped treating Da-hye as a younger sister and instead acted as though she were merely someone intruding upon their family.

But Da-hye believed all of it stemmed from her sudden departure to study abroad.

She convinced herself that the distance between them existed simply because they had never truly lived together as family.

“Your stepsister…? We’re still… not very close yet. I only come back to Korea a few times a year. There’s barely any time for us to get close.”

Whenever her friends asked about her stepsister, Da-hye would always answer vaguely like that.

Once she finished all her studies and returned to Korea for good, she believed that—even if awkward at first—they would eventually become a real family.

No—she believed she could warmly embrace those two women, who were practically strangers within the home her father and she had once built together.

“Sister… is there anything you want? I’m coming back to Korea next month. Should I buy you something?”

“Stepmother… is there anything I can help you with?”

Though her stepmother and stepsister were always cold toward her, Da-hye continued approaching them warmly in hopes of growing closer.

Perhaps because Hyejung had also lost her father at a young age, Da-hye pitied her.

And even though they had barely ever held a proper conversation, she sometimes felt a strange sense of kinship toward her and sincerely wanted to treat her like a real older sister.

Determined to get along well with the family she had newly gained, Da-hye poured her whole heart into them.

Determined to get along well with the family she had newly gained, Da-hye poured her whole heart into them.

“Forget it. Can’t you see I’m studying? Could you leave?”

“If I need something, I’ll call you. Until then, just stay in your room.”

But perhaps her sincerity had not been enough.

Or perhaps they had simply lived apart for too long.

Jinhee and Hyejung continued treating her with guarded caution, as though they constantly had their blades pointed toward her.

Da-hye had sensed their subtle hostility and wariness toward her from very early on, but she never felt resentful over it.

After all, she had only just returned to Korea. Naturally, it was her responsibility to work harder to fit into their lives.

And she truly believed that if she kept trying, the distance between them would eventually close.

Pulling her gaze away from the banner, Da-hye turned back toward the emergency exit.

“…Hmm. He’s still not answering.”

There was still no response from Ji-hoon, her fiancé.

“This has never happened before.”

After returning to Korea for the first time in seven years, Da-hye had immediately been introduced to Kang Ji-hoon, the son of a promising business family.

It all began after Jooho—who once insisted on remaining nothing more than an artist—suddenly entered the Oriental painting business world.

As someone just beginning his career in business, Jooho naturally needed a powerful backing to support his ventures.

And at just the right time, Da-hye caught the eye of Chairman Kang of Samyoung Trading—Jihoon’s father—who had long wanted a daughter-in-law from an artistic family.

The meeting between Da-hye and Ji-hoon became the perfect foundation for both families to obtain exactly what they needed.

Though she had abruptly agreed to an engagement arranged entirely by their families without even properly knowing Ji-hoon, contrary to Da-hye’s worries, he was a considerate and gentle man.

Since they had barely met more than a handful of times, she could not confidently speak of romantic attraction.

Still, if she had to enter a strategic marriage anyway, someone as kind and polite as Ji-hoon did not seem so bad.

“Oh my, Chairman Yoon! It’s been so long…!”

At that moment, she spotted Jinhee skillfully weaving through the exhibition hall as though it were her own home.

Dressed head to toe in luxury brands, Jinhee appeared to have firmly established herself as Professor Kyung’s wife while Da-hye had been away.

Da-hye withdrew her gaze from her and started walking again.

Rrrr.

“…!”

At last, a call came from Ji-hoon.

“Hello? Mr. Ji-hoon?”

Quickening her steps, Da-hye grabbed the handle of the emergency exit door.

But instead of hearing his voice only through the phone, she heard it clearly from just beyond the door itself.

Abruptly, her steps came to a halt.

—”Ah. Da-hye, I’m sorry. I’m a little busy right now… I think I’ll arrive in about ten minutes.”

Ji-hoon’s voice was unmistakably coming from the other side of the door.

Was she imagining things?

Holding her breath, Da-hye carefully turned the doorknob.

—”I really think it’ll take about ten more minutes. The traffic’s terrible.”

Through the narrow crack in the doorway, she saw someone’s silhouette.

And the voice drifting through that gap undoubtedly belonged to Ji-hoon.

‘Why… is he saying that when he’s already here?’

Unable to understand his answer at all, Da-hye tilted her head slightly and pushed the door open a little wider.

—”Hello? Da-hye? Are you angry?”

Ji-hoon stood there with his back turned, a phone pressed to one ear.

“…!”

The moment she recognized his familiar figure, Da-hye felt her entire body go rigid.

It really was Ji-hoon.

But what was happening?

Still unable to comprehend the situation, Da-hye remained frozen in place, staring blankly at his back.

Then suddenly, the woman standing in front of him wrapped an arm around his waist and whispered softly,

“Who is it? Kyung Da-hye?”

Soon, the woman’s profile came fully into view.

“Hang up already, babe… Ugh, she’s annoying.”

A face she had never once imagined.

And a voice she could never have expected even in her dreams was now standing right before her.

Ji-hoon slowly brushed the tip of his finger against Kyung Hyejung’s red lips and grinned.

—”Hello? Da-hye? Can you hear me?”

Misfortune arrived without warning.