People would kill when it comes to money and they would worship anyone for power. Money and power, the keys to influence. The equation is not that easy as 1 + 2 = 3, because with money and power come endless factors that can turn a man into a god or a slave. It’s all depends on his choice, whether it’s good or bad.

[EPISODE 17]

Bi-ryung receives another visitor but the person is the last human being that she would want to meet: Jae-in. She refuses to admit her crime of using the company’s money and doesn’t want to give up on her shares, sending Jae-in away with frustration. Cha-don runs into her and decides to help Jae-in with the proof of Bi-ryung’s crime. He tries to open Bi-ryung’s safe but it’s not an easy job since they only know the numbers, not the actual password combination.

Se-kwang sees Jae-in at the prosecutor’s office and Prosecutor Kwon brags about Jae-in’s plan to marry Hyuk. Se-kwang starts to suspect Prosecutor Kwon of trying to save himself but Prosecutor Kwon thinks he should cut off his connection with Kang-seok to avoid that man from influencing him. He then shows Se-kwang a picture of something related to Bi-ryung that gives Se-kwang a shock.

Cha-don meets Bi-ryung and keeps encouraging her to expose all Se-kwang’s past during the next hearing. Bi-ryung looks determined since she’s angry that Se-kwang has decided to throw her away after all the things she had done for his sake. Meanwhile, a man appears in front of Madam Bok’s restaurant, looking at her with fondness in his eyes. Madam Bok, thinking that the man is a beggar, tells Mr Kim to chase him away.

The trial for Attorney Hwang’s murder case starts and Se-kwang seems to have the victory on his side as the prosecutor with all the evidence pointing at Bi-ryung as the murderer. Cha-don gets his chance to as Bi-ryung some questions and asks her about the connection of the murder to the case of Chairman Lee’s murder, 15 years ago. However, she denies it and breaks down while Se-kwang smiles with relief. It turns out that the picture Prosecutor Kwon gave him earlier was a picture of Bi-ryung and her secret son, who’s staying with her secret guy in the US. Se-kwang uses it as a bait to make her shut her mouth.

Manager Yang and Secretary Hong are still trying to key in each of the possible number combination for Bi-ryung’s safe and they finally succeed. They report it to Cha-don, who tells them to give it to Jae-in anonymously. The court is taking a break and Se-kwang meets Cha-don outside the room. He gives Cha-don a proof of Bi-ryung taking sedatives and tells him to use it to defend Bi-ryung. He suggests Cha-don manipulate the case, saying it was a rape and that will reduce her sentence. Cha-don suddenly thinks of a better idea, which is to send Bi-ryung to the psychiatric ward, just like what Se-kwang did to Madam Park.

The hearing commences and Bi-ryung follows the plan, which is to admit that she was only defending herself from Attorney Hwang, who tried to rape her. Together with the doctor’s consent about her sedatives, she gets a sentence of 3 years in the prison and will be sent to the psychiatric ward as what she agreed with Cha-don. Bi-ryung gets a taste of how awful the prison life is with the abusive inmates and her grudge on Se-kwang grows deeper. Jae-in comes to visit her again, this time with the proof of her misconducts. Bi-ryung doesn’t have any other choice but to give up on her shares and money.

Cha-don’s revenge doesn’t stop her with his success of destroying Bi-ryung and his next targets are Prosecutor Kwon and Se-kwang. He wants to use the politics as the tool to make the power hunger men bite each other’s tail. He decides to ask Madam Bok’s help in order to make a trap for both of them. Madam Bok goes out to meet Cha-don alone and the man from earlier calls her name over and over again after she leaves the house.

Madam Bok falls asleep while she’s on the taxi and when she arrives at the meeting place, she suddenly forgets the reason why she went there at the first place. Cha-don calls her phone but she left it at home and Mr Kim is the one who answers the phone. Cha-don starts to look around for Madam Bok and Mr Kim finds the medicine she’s been taking for a while. Mr Kim gets to know that Madam Bok has been keeping her Alzheimer’s disease a secret from everyone. Cha-don finds her sitting on the pavement, not knowing what to do and she doesn’t even recognize him. He hugs her, telling her that he’s Cha-don and he will bring her home. Madam Bok starts crying like a lost little girl but soon snaps out, recovering her memory.

Right now, Mr Kim and Cha-don already knew about her illness but Madam Bok reminds them not to tell Jae-in about it. She doesn’t want her daughter to become weak when Jae-in is already on her way to become a stronger and independent woman. Cha-don hesitates to tell her about his plan but soon gives in, asking for her help to avenge his family’s death. He wants Madam Bok to help him with the Chungrok Literary Society’s influence to crush both Se-kwang and Prosecutor Kwon.

Jae-in is appointed as the new chairperson for Hwanghae Bank and Cha-don can only look at her from afar while Hyuk congratulates her with flowers. Secretary Hong wonders why they had to give the proof of Bi-ryung’s crime anonymously to Jae-in but Cha-don doesn’t want any problem to happen to Jae-in as they took the proof illegally from Bi-ryung. Madam Bok comes home to a little celebration prepared by Jae-in and Jae-in sighs happily, thinking that it would be nice if her father was still alive. As Madam Bok tells Jae-in about her father, the beggar man is playing the saxophone outside their house.

Mayor Jung, the man from the earlier episodes come to meet Madam Bok at the temple and he wonders why Madam Bok is praying tirelessly. It’s actually a meeting set up for Cha-don to meet Mayor Jung. Mayor Jung agrees to help Cha-don defeat Se-kwang since it’s also his dream. He doesn’t think it’s an easy thing to do since Prosecutor Kwon and Se-kwang are both intelligent and sharp. The game starts with the members of Chungrok picking their candidates to be nominated in the society’s poll and Se-kwang is left out of the list. Se-kwang thinks his only chance is to get under the Gentleman of Jingogae’s wings. It’s staged by Cha-don but he’s yet to find someone to act as the fake Gentleman of Jingogae.

The beggar man is still there in front of Madam Bok’s house and he takes at look at the picture of him and the younger Madam Bok. He manages to avoid being hit by a motorcycle but another car hits him lightly. It’s Cha-don’s car and he’s worried that the man is hurt, but the man assures him that he’s alright and asks for some money. The man drops the picture and Cha-don picks it up. He brings the man for a treat at a restaurant and finds out that the man is indeed Madam Bok’s husband and Jae-in’s father. He then introduces himself as a famous saxophone player back then, known as the Gentleman of Jingogae. Cha-don decides to make him the fake gentleman in his plan.

Se-kwang goes out for a round of pool game with Prosecutor Kwon and he’s starting to get mad when Prosecutor Kwon doesn’t tell him anything about his nomination. Cha-don meets him after Prosecutor Kwon left and offers him the nomination under the name of Gentleman of Jingogae. Se-kwang thinks he’s trying to trick him, but Cha-don offers to let him meet the person for him to personally confirm the truth. Se-kwang agrees and they are about to leave when Hyuk and Jae-in enters the restaurant. Cha-don can’t stop himself from interrupting their date and tells Hyuk about Jae-in’s bad habits. Jae-in remembers Madam Bok’s advice not to mention about their relationship with Cha-don and decides to leave the place.

Cha-don gives Jae-in’s father a makeover and prepares him for the meeting with Se-kwang. Se-kwang, on the other hand, is still wary about the truth and sets the meeting at the same place where Madam Bok is going to meet Prosecutor Kwon. He goes to the place and sees Ji-hoo with her father. Her father, Professor Jeon, was actually a justice and he’s one of the elite members of Chungrok. Ji-hoo tells him to keep the secret about her father from everyone at their office. Cha-don arrives there shortly after, together with Jae-in’s father. However, the smooth plan is interrupted when Madam Bok arrives at the place. Se-kwang is anticipating his reaction while Cha-don is nervous, afraid that his plan will go awry…

[END of EPISODE 17]

It looks like the chapter of the payback on Eun Bi-ryung has ended and we’ve come to the big two: Se-kwang and Prosecutor Kwon. Love that Cha-don paves Bi-ryung’s future to be the same as what Se-kwang did to his mother. Sly but satisfying, because no one could make the connection between those two situations. The most satisfying moment was when Cha-don presented his ‘ final gift’ and Bi-ryung gladly accepted it, even making her promise to remember his deed forever. I am happy to see her being punished for her crimes but it does seem too light to atone for her sins. Maybe she’s going to get her chance for revenge on Se-kwang later? Or maybe her punishment is to realize that Se-kwang is just a manipulative mongrel who only used her again and again.

The highlight of the episode was probably on Madam Bok’s illness. I was crying when she lost her memory for a while and I was so glad that Ch-don was the one who found out about her illness. My guess was right, she has Alzheimer’s disease. It’s so dangerous for her to move around when she has the tendency to forget everything and it will be a matter of time until the baddies find out about her illness. I hope Jae-in will find out about it before them, because that won’t make her feel left out. Now I’m scared…please don’t kill of the awesome Madam Bok! It’d be too much for Cha-don to lose another mother figure in his life after his own mother…

But then, the sudden appearance of Jae-in’s father isn’t totally unrelated, right?