And the surprises keep coming. Mom finally learns Tae-ho is a chaebol and for once, her motherly instincts supersede her love of money – she’s adamantly against it, worried the chaebols will treat Hyo-shim poorly for her lowly background. Tae-ho is determined to win her over like he’s already won over the rest of the family and gets to work trying to charm his way into her good graces. It looks to be an uphill battle.
When Halmeoni hears that Hyo-shim’s mom disapproves of the marriage, she orders her son (Tae-min’s dad/bio uncle) to hold off on turning himself in for murdering his brother and sister-in-law – a family member doing time for fratricide is bound to ruin Tae-ho’s chances of marriage. Sick of being ordered around, her son shocks her by finding his spine. He accuses her need to control of being the root of their family problems and says she and Sook-hyang are a lot alike. (Bold statement, sir). Next thing you know, Halmeoni is wailing and he’s back to crying and apologizing.
Speaking of Sook-hyang, her villainy has finally driven everyone away, including the ever-loyal Mr. Yeom. When Tae-hee’s DNA test proves that she’s not Mr. Yeom’s daughter, he realizes Sook-hyang has been playing him all these years to keep him under her thumb. She never outright said Tae-hee was his daughter, but she heavily implied it for decades knowing it wasn’t true, which is all kinds of messed up. That’s enough to turn even the staunchest ally, and Mr. Yeom is no longer willing to take the fall for all Sook-hyang’s evil deeds. They both know Tae-min has been digging around, but it turns out Tae-hee is the one with crucial evidence on their biggest crime. On the night Tae-ho’s parents died, she heard Sook-hyang order Mr. Yeom to “take care of it” if her husband fails. Mr. Yeom then drove a rented Truck of Doom into the couple’s car, causing their deaths. Given the depths of villainy we’ve seen from Sook-hyang and her lackey, is anyone even surprised?