With the chaebol drama wrapped up, it’s time to solve the mystery of Hyo-shim’s dad’s disappearance. It’s a depressingly normal, tired tale – he secretly ran away with his coworker because he was “lonely” and apparently didn’t want the burden of the family he chose to create. He and his new woman started a new life together and never looked back at the wife and children he abandoned. When Hyo-shim confronts him, he’s too cowardly to do much of anything. He just hangs his head in shame and says he has no right to say anything, which sounds like a convenient way to avoid facing the pain he caused head on. He even begs Hyo-shim not to tell the rest of the family they’ve talked, acting like it’s for their own good. Of course, he doesn’t know that his new wife has met with his family behind his back. He’s terminally ill with only weeks to live, unless he gets a new liver, so she goes to ask his family to donate. Wow, that’s brazen. It’s hard to have any sympathy at all for these two, despite their crying and head-hanging.
Mom forbids the kids to donate their livers, but of course, they don’t listen. Hyo-do gets tested but isn’t a match, and Hyo-sung’s liver is busted from years of drinking. Any guesses who that leaves? Yep, filial Hyo-shim strikes again. She has no love left for her dad, but she wants her family to have time to heal and not feel guilty over his death. For some reason, she doesn’t tell Tae-ho she’s going to donate her liver. Maybe it’s because, rather than supporting her when she asked him to postpone the wedding so she could deal with a major family crisis, he instead threw a hissy fit and even accused her of not loving him. He did get his act together and apologize, but that whole reaction wasn’t a good look. To top it off, he then asks Tae-min to have him transferred to the England office after the wedding; Hyo-shim can study and have a break from her needy family. Does he come to this conclusion after a discussion with Hyo-shim about what she wants to do? Nope, he just unilaterally decides their future. Great start to a lifelong relationship.
Meanwhile, Tae-hee is like a shadow of herself. She feels guilty for the crimes of her parents and can barely look at Tae-min and Tae-ho. With both her parents now in jail, a recent divorce, and the loss of her business, she’s unsure what to do with her life. Halmeoni sees her struggling and gets an idea. She takes Tae-hee to Uicheon Villa, hoping she can find herself among the chaotic neighbors the way Halmeoni did. What she doesn’t realize is that those neighbors are Tae-hee’s ex-husband’s family. Aha, I was wondering how they’d throw her and Hyo-do back together again. They have both matured thanks to their respective family dramas, so maybe this time it won’t be a disaster?