“The floor’s slippery, be careful,” Gigi fusses over Jay as he enters his apartment with a crutch in one hand and a sling holding his other.
Catch up: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13
Jay tries to soothe Gigi, telling her that the doctors are just worried; he doesn’t need to be walking on eggshells.
But Gigi believes he should listen to them; they’re smart and know what they’re doing. He shouldn’t do anything on his own from now on, ok? She’s serious.
She gets up to make him some food in case he’s hungry, but Jay grabs her hand and pulls her into a hug. He holds onto her as Gigi wraps her arms around him. They should just stay like this.
“When I thought it was the end, I regretted it so much. I was given another chance but wasn’t honest again,” he admits.
“You won’t die,” Gigi tells him resolutely. She’s sorry that she didn’t believe him.
It’s honestly not a matter of being sorry. Arya isn’t an easy opponent; even after Jay saw the unimaginable true colors, it took over three years to end it with her.
Gigi gets the whole someone being beyond one’s imagination. When you spend a long time with someone, it’s hard to see that person properly. You try not to believe it until you’re forced to accept it once you see the end.
“Your ex-fiancée is trying to kill me, and Mino and Sue get paid if I die. They joined forces.” Gigi suddenly gets up.
Mrs. Y’s husband is having an affair, so she thinks her fate must have moved onto Mrs. Y. “It’s not over with their marriage,” she tells Jay, “There’s something more that I have to find out to protect Mrs. Y. Just stay by my side”.
Jay lovingly bestows a kiss on her forehead. These revelations are definitely concerning; it seems the nightmare has yet to end.
Piecing together the conspiracy
Mr. Capable briefs Jay that the police think a drunk driver caused the accident, and they’ll never catch her. “We put someone on Arya, Mino, and Sue, but haven’t caught anything yet. We put people on them after the accident, so there’s no lead”.
He takes a deep breath, then turns to Jay, “If you knew in advance, you should’ve discussed it with me first”.
Jay tells the other man (whose concern is prompting somewhat of a more aggressive reaction than typical) that he knew he was on his side. Then he does something unexpected: he hugs a stunned Mr. Capable until the man (in an effort to hold it together) pushes him away gently.
“Don’t. I’m not that angry,” he says, looking straight at Jay’s eyes.
The only thing they can do now with the limited leads they have is find the couple that was paid (Sue’s dad and Gigi’s mom, his wife). They’re probably heading for the airport, and Arya is most likely looking for them. True, it’s a matter of who’s first.
“By the way, how long do you have to wear the sling?” Mr. Capable asks.
Jay looks down at his arm, ah, yes. “Until Gigi tells me to stop wearing it. Honest, I can take it off now, but she promised to take care of me while I had it on”.
He’s been taking full advantage of that offer, having her feed him, hug him, basically stay with him. He finally admits to her it’s all in an effort to keep her by his side. Can she stay the night?
She concedes to stay, but she lays down a cover and pillow on the floor by his bed. Not quite the kind of “stay the night” Jay envisioned. However, he knows there’s no point arguing with her, so he turns off the light, grabs his pillow, and lies down right next to her on the floor.
What’s he doing? A surprised Gigi turns to face him as he wraps an arm around her. He understands what she means, so he’ll just hold her. His arm still hurts, he swears!
“Always be by my side. No matter what you do, do it by my side,” he caresses her cheek, then lovingly kisses her cheek. That’s all he needs.
Morning reassurances
In the morning, Jay woke up with a smile on his face until he saw that the place next to him was empty. Reminiscent of the last time he woke up next to her many years ago on that field to find her gone, he gets up in panic to look for her.
“Are you up? I was going to wake you,” Gigi says while chewing on a juicy strawberry as Jay barges out of the room. Does he want any strawberries? They’re so good, they’re the yummiest she’s had…Gigi’s words drift off as a determined Jay comes right up to her and hugs her from behind.
What? Did he have a nightmare? But he just gives in to the hug she willingly provided; his dream is a secret.
Mrs. Y returns to work
Mr. K, who’s apparently still around, is going on and on about Gigi’s absences lately, annoying everyone in the vicinity until Mrs. Y decides to make an appearance. Everyone goes up to welcome her. Is it okay to work now?
Mino notices the commotion, but his eyes rest on Gig,i who’s at the forefront of the mob welcoming Mrs. Y. He heads into an empty conference room to demand from Arya how come Gigi showed up at work as if nothing is wrong. Also, why has she been so hard to reach? And what the hell is going on?
Arya instructs him to have patience if he doesn’t want to continue living like a bum (her ultimate leverage on the whole argument, apparently). She shouldn’t get involved with such low-standard people, but nothing gets done if she doesn’t do it herself.
That’s when her right-hand man (a handsome guy with an impassive expression that has the air of being forced to do her bidding) informs her they located the couple.
The dashcam evidence
Meanwhile, Mrs. Y is somewhat unloading on Gigi and Helen in the break room. Isn’t she pathetic? At her age, when she feels anxious, she has nowhere to go but work.
“Because you have friends here,” Gigi genuinely tells her, “I was worried and going to go see you anyway”.
Mrs. Y reveals she reported her husband to the police for adultery, confusing Gigi until she recalls this was before the law that enabled that was abolished.
“Whenever I was admitted to the hospital, he would bring her over. So I told him I was being admitted today. His car dashcam caught them doing dirty things in the car, but there’s no video. I think it’s broken. And the police said audio wasn’t enough proof,” Mrs. Y tells the ladies.
The dashcam video’s not working? Ridiculous, isn’t it? She didn’t want to go this far, but she made up her mind and broke the door lock on her way out.
Gigi gets a flashback of herself walking into the apartment that fateful morning, noting how her door lock back then had also been broken. Concerned about what she thinks will happen, she asks Mrs. Y to go along with her.
The stakeout
So that evening, Gigi finds herself in a car with two policemen and Mrs. Y playing stakeout. All of their eyes follow the figure of a woman; she’s the one sleeping with Mrs. Y’s husband. Her husband went in thirty minutes ago, and they’ll go inside in ten.
As they enter the apartment, Gigi notes a pair of red heels at the door. Suddenly, a jar with marbles breaks and they scatter to the floor. Gigi’s anxiety is through the roof; this is going line for line, similar to what happened that day. Only it was a box of Sue’s mint candies that had scattered, candies that were round and similar to marbles.
The young woman claims to have brought over some side dishes since his wife was in the hospital. Maybe she was out of line, but she sees him in the restaurant often and considers him family.
Mrs. Y scoffs at that, so there’s nothing illicit going on?
“Hey, were you suspecting me?” her husband has the audacity to sound offended. Does she look down on him since he works for her dad? Getting agitated, he orders everyone out. How dare she make a joke of him like this?
He walks over to Gigi, who hasn’t moved an inch despite the police and the woman heading out, and demands she get out. But Gigi turns to Mrs. Y, she’s not going to be going anywhere.
Is she not leaving? The man is persistent. Gigi glances around at the marbles remaining scattered on the floor haphazardly and the console table in the center. All so very similar.
Breaking the table
“I’m going,” she tells the man, “but before I go…” She heads to a golf caddy filled with sticks that she spotted and grabs one.
Walking menacingly toward the man, she pulls the golf club back, gaining momentum (an action that forces Mrs. Y’s cheating husband to crouch on the floor in fear), and breaks the console table in tiny pieces. She gives it a good four hits before pointing the golf club at the cowardly man, “If you touch her, I’ll make you pay!” she promises.
The police run in, having heard the commotion, and everything gets so chaotic until Mrs. Y can’t take it anymore. Shocked as she was at Gigi’s abrupt action, she couldn’t take her husband anymore.
She walks over to him, “You’re shameless. Are you happy you weren’t caught? No, I know what you did in the car. What? You wonder how much insurance money you’ll get if I die? You laughed about it. Are you two even human?”
That’s the car his daughter rides in, isn’t he ashamed? He’s a terrible person. He plays the fool, but Mrs. Y has had enough; she slaps him.
Angry, he turns around and pushes her, making her fall on her back. Her head was exactly where the table once stood, the table that Gigi had shattered with the golf club.
Terrified while seeing Mrs. Y fall to the floor, Gigi rushes to the woman’s side, relieved to see she’s not hurt and incensed on her behalf. That crazy bastard! Gigi’s so angry that the police have to take hold so she doesn’t attack Mrs. Y’s asshole husband.
At the police station
Jay rushes into the police station as he catches sight of Gigi next to Mrs. Y. Mr. Capable is right beside him.
“Are you okay, Gigi?” he asks, concerned.
Mr. Capable looks at Mrs. Y and exhales a sigh of relief. Something’s going on between these two; Mr. Capable was actually visibly concerned for someone!
Gigi takes hold of Mrs. Y’s hands, promising to come back after work tomorrow—she shouldn’t do anything until then.
“Thanks, Gigi,” Mrs. Y tells her, “But it’s my business, I’ll handle it myself. I realized earlier that he probably won’t break up easily, so I’ll see a lawyer”.
No, she must never meet him alone. Gigi insists she must call her; she’ll be there with her. But Mrs. Y can’t understand why her friend is saying such strange things; she’s been acting weird.
Gigi knows her reaction must seem ridiculous out of context, but Mrs. Y would’ve gotten hurt badly earlier if it weren’t for “strange” actions. “Just do as I say this once,” Gigi prompts the woman.
“I’ll be by your side,” Mr. Capable’s voice drifts towards the women.
They both turn to look at the source who’s standing next to Jay, a short distance away from the two of them. “You said you’d meet a lawyer. You can talk to me,” he confidently says.
Understanding fate’s pattern
Later, as Jay and Gigi are back at his place alone, he assures her that Mrs. Y can trust Mr. Capable. The man always does what he says.
Gigi nods; she believes him, but something’s on her mind. Her fate going to someone else is probably not a coincidence. “If the stress from her indifferent husband caused her cancer, where did the fate of being killed by him come from?” She worriedly looks at Jay.
The broken door lock, red high heels, and the candy tin were all there today. Is it about the husband having an affair with someone close? Or are those scumbags after insurance money?
Suddenly, Gigi realizes what she needs to do. “Jay, I have to seduce Mino,” she says with distaste.
Mino must have an affair and not care if his wife dies. No, she has to make him think that he needs to kill her. “I know it’ll upset you, but I have to do it. If I don’t give the fate of being killed by a cheating husband to Sue, Mrs. Y will die,” she tries to make him see reason.
As much as neither of them likes it, she needs to do this. He’s not happy, but he resolved long ago that he’ll help Gigi do whatever she wants or needs to do. That offer still stands.
The staged breakup
Armed with a pair of red high heels, Gigi and Jay set their new plan in motion.
At the office the next day, they made it clear they had broken up. Apparently, Gigi chose money over him; she must have seen this coming. She can’t have it both ways. Fine, she’ll find a new job, but in return, he should let her finish the meal kit project (Jay handed it over to someone else on the team right before Gigi’s “confrontation” on the stairs).
They’re loud as they argue because, unsurprisingly, Mino is hiding a short distance away listening to every word. He’s a spy of sorts, as his affiliations with Arya grew stronger over the past few days. In fact, they grew so close that even Gigi and Jay are unaware of their illicit affair.
Mino is surprised by this turn of events, yet grows even more shocked when Gigi intentionally approaches him later in the day. Yes, she left him for the General Manager, but the situation has changed. “Do you want to have a drink with me later?” she acts all coy.
Of course, Mino is a sucker.
Gigi’s performance
Gigi discloses over drinks that the chairman said he’d gladly pay her millions if she broke up with Jay. It’s not all cash, mind you; there’s real estate too. He took care of all the taxes, so even she isn’t aware of how much she has. Jay’s pretty angry with her for accepting, but what’s a girl to do?
Everything she says makes sense. Mino has no reason to doubt her. No matter how rich Jay is, it’d be strange to just give her that much (an amount he was aware of because of Arya’s investigation into Gigi). If all that wealth is under the condition that she stop seeing him, that makes more sense.
While Mino is meeting Gigi and hanging up on his nagging wife, the said wife is meeting with Mr. K. Sue is annoyed Mino’s not taking her calls; however, it’s time to paste on a smile and play her part with this pathetic man in front of her. He has a thing for her; she’s always been able to tell and used it to her advantage.
However, Sue doesn’t like Mr. K’s warning to be aware of Mino and Gigi. Those two dated for seven years because they were a good fit, no way they’re over so easily. He isn’t far off theoretically, considering the two are in a bar having drinks, even if it’s all a play on Gigi’s end.
Gigi’s pulling on memories—Mino should know she really liked him back then. They had had some good days. Mino dares to fondly think of how she’d also put up with him (selfish bastard to the end) despite the fact that he’d tried killing her only a couple of days earlier for money.
So she’s broken up with Jay for real? He needs to know with certainty.
“I thought so, actually. I almost had a big accident recently. It was with a dump truck, so I would’ve died if it wasn’t for Jay coming out of nowhere and…everything got complicated after that,” Gigi lays down her web.
Yes, things got horribly complicated. Does Mino know who the driver of the truck was? He was Sue’s dad. With this revelation, Mino realizes Gigi knows everything.
Sue’s growing paranoia
An anxious, agitated Sue keeps trying to get in contact with Mino via calls and texts but isn’t getting any reply from him.
What’s going on? Why isn’t he telling her anything? Her meeting with Mr. K left her questioning Mino’s intentions.
Could he be with Gigi? No way, that’s not possible, he wanted to kill her!
But memories of his behavior towards Gigi play in her head nonstop.
Setting the trap
Meanwhile, Gigi’s revelation about the identity of the truck driver left Mino speechless. She continues her part of getting closer to Mino by ensuring he thinks she only considers Sue to be the party involved in the attempt to kill her.
“I get she hates me, but how can she try to kill me? She’s crazy!” Gigi continues on the incredulous note. “I didn’t just see her true colors with this accident; Jay put someone on me. If not, how could he have shown up? We hadn’t met since we broke up. It doesn’t make sense. I think I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m being watched. I’m so scared”.
Mino connects the dots based on these “truths,” Gigi confesses. So she hasn’t come to work because of Jay? Of course! She couldn’t just leave him; fortunately, he wasn’t hurt that badly, so she was discharged.
“But when I told him we were through, he told me to resign,” Gigi admits, looking straight into Mino’s eyes. She’s telling the truth since that’s what he overheard on the staircase earlier that day. Something felt off; this must have been it.
Yes, Jay is rich; she’s got some right to switch over to him, and she’s also right to break up with him for millions. She wouldn’t make a good wife for a rich guy.
If Gigi has millions, he shouldn’t kill her because if she dies, her mom and the others will split the money. Nothing will come to him. However, if he seduces her again, those millions will come to him.
“Can you break up with Sue?” Gigi tells him after giving the dense asshole some time to think over things in his nasty head. He knows how scary she is right now; he should come back to her. She can’t do this alone…never mind, she should go.
As Gigi blurts out all these “feelings” she’s apparently bottled up, Mino pulls her into a hug. She endures his touch, though from a short distance away, Jay is monitoring the situation from his car.
Jay’s reassurance
Once Mino departs with a command for her to call him, Gigi walks over to Jay’s car. “I’m sorry, I know you hated seeing that display,” she earnestly tells him.
Without a word, Jay exits the car and heads around to her side, where he pulls the door open for her to get out. Thinking her actions might have been way too much for him, Gigi steps out in remorse, yet he hugs her!
What is he doing?
“Nothing. If I don’t do this, I don’t think I can keep sane,” Jay tells her.
Smiling into his shoulder, Gigi is happy because he must like her a lot. She pulls away, looking affectionately at him.
Earlier, Mino seemed to be regretting what he did. Gigi laughs. Mino’s probably crunching numbers in his head at that moment.
She isn’t far off. Mino did the math, reported to Arya that things might be easier for them to get what they want, and informed Sue that they need to get a divorce.
An astounded Sue looks at him as he describes the reasons. They don’t have kids, and he honestly has no reason to live with her. Nothing good has come from being with Sue.
Did he meet Gigi? Sue thought about it. If he and Gigi get together, then only she gets screwed over.
Arya’s new target
Ernie goes to work at the restaurant the next morning when he sees a group of employees gathered outside the doors. He attempts to open them; however, they’re closed. Checking his texts, he sees one from the owner (a close friend) who apologizes while informing him that he decided to close the restaurant. What the hell.
Suddenly, the doors open and Arya walks out. She looks directly at Ernie and, with one of her fake polite smiles, invites the Chef inside.
“Your boss here decided to sell the restaurant to me at double the market price. It was a good choice, one you can make too. If you help me, this expensive restaurant will become yours,” she tries to persuade him.
What does he need to do? Ernie is trying to wrap his mind around all this.
“You have two choices. One, take the restaurant. Two, lose your job”. It’s as easy as that.
Helen to the rescue
Later that evening, an excited Helen pops onto the barstool next to Ernie with “Chef! My heart fluttered when you contacted me!” as a greeting. Ernie can’t help but smile at her bubbly personality. When Gigi turned him down, it was nice to get comforted by Helen.
“Is something wrong?” Helen asks while taking note of his stance. He’s unemployed now.
Helen attempts to see the bright side; he’s sure to find another job since he’s talented, handsome, and cooks tasty food. However, Ernie looks at reality—the industry is small, and the restaurant suddenly closed down, which doesn’t bode well.
Helen feels him on this; it’s the same for her. People don’t believe them, besides not knowing the full story. What’s worse, they don’t even try to know the full story. (She’s thinking of the issue at work where the Chef from the meal kit project canceled his contract courtesy of Arya’s intervention to screw things for Gigi.)
Oh! She has a major realization. Turning slowly to look at the disappointed man sitting next to her, taking a swing of his beer bottle, she points a finger at him, exclaiming in excitement.
The next day at the office, Helen brings Ernie over to Gigi (who’s aware of Helen’s idea after the young woman contacted her).
“Why didn’t I think of you?” Gigi greets Ernie with a smile as she shakes his hand. He doesn’t know if he can be of any help. Ernie throws his eyes at Helen, who’s smiling at her desk, then asks Gigi for a quick private word.
“So it was a woman?” Gigi asks as Ernie just told her what happened. She thanks him for telling her and apologizes before assuring him no harm will come to him.
Ernie smiles. That’s not why he told her. His eyes once again pan over at Helen, who can see them through the glass of the meeting room. Her smile has now vanished, and she peeks with concern. Are things not going as well as she anticipated?
“Anyway, I didn’t tell Helen,” he confesses to Gigi.
Jay’s countermove
After Ernie leaves, Gigi calls Jay to tell him that Arya bought the restaurant and asked Ernie for help. He said no, and she fired him, though she didn’t tell him what she needed help with.
“I know what it is, don’t worry. I’ll call you back later. I’m with someone right now,” Jay tells her.
He’s indeed with someone—Arya’s assistant and right-hand man. Jay looks at the man. He presents him with two choices, much as Arya did to Ernie—one, help him; two, go down with Arya. “I’m sure you know which to choose if you’re not a fool,” he says, then takes a sip of his coffee.
The other man breaks his silence. What does he need to do?
Planting the evidence
Arya smiles as she sees some boxes waiting for her to unbox. Unbeknownst to her, Jay had sent limited-edition red high heels along with a candy tin (the same that had scattered in Gigi’s past life right before the altercation that ended that life). The assistant was tasked to ensure Arya got these items.
Gigi had asked Jay if this turn of events meant she didn’t need to play with Mino anymore, to which he’d replied with a resolute expression. No more Mino, ever.
Hence, when Mino reached out at the office to ask Gigi out on yet another “date”, he heard the unexpected rejection. It wasn’t until Gigi drove home the point that the rejection was for a lifetime that he understood something was wrong.
“The only thing you know how to do is sugarcoat things,” Gigi informs him, “You ruin everything you touch, and aim for insurance fraud. You’re too incompetent to work with. What really surprised me is your HR method; you especially excel at recruiting female talent (referencing his involvement with Arya). I was surprised since you just got married. You’re amazing in many ways”.
Arya’s deadly move
Arya is prepping the scene for the murder of Gigi’s mother and her husband (Sue’s dad). She places a letter addressed to Gigi that’s allegedly written by her mother, making it look like a suicide attempt right before giving the signal for her assistant to light the car holding the couple on fire.
“It’s my first time seeing someone die,” she says while looking at the scene with a satisfied smile that soon fades. It’s boring, but still she feels better. The assistant stands a couple of steps behind her with his usual wordlessness and impassive expression.
Mino’s final move
That same evening, Gigi’s in the office alone, wrapping up some work that thankfully is going well, what with Ernie’s involvement. All’s going well until she receives a call that’s creepy. No one speaks, though she can hear some breathing.
Suddenly uncomfortable at being alone, she starts noticing a few odd things here and there. With heightened anxiety and newfound fear, she runs to leave. Her gut tells her something’s very wrong.
And she’s right, Mino’s voice is heard calling her name. “Gigi?” he calls out, then a crazy laugh follows. Is she scared? They have a lot to talk about; she should come out.
A terrified Gigi, meanwhile, is crouching by one of the desks, hoping to remain hidden.
“You should’ve known your place,” Mino continues as he surveys the room, trying to locate her. “This is the problem with women. Was it fun messing with me?”
He stops as a phone starts ringing. Walking toward Gigi’s desk, Mino pulls her cell out of her purse to see “General Manager Jay” in the caller ID. “Hey, Jay’s calling,” he says to the room, “Will you not pick up?”
Silence is his only reply. Fine, then he’ll pick it up. But it’s all talk in an attempt to make her come out from wherever she’s hiding. All he does is power off her cell before throwing it on the desk, once again a predator in search of prey.
She’s got a strong stomach. He also likes money, but aren’t those rich people disgusting? They disgust him.
Poor Gigi can barely hold her breath steady. Mino pauses for what feels like a long time, and a trickle of fear runs down her spine. Looking up, Gigi sees Mino’s cruel face staring down at her, crouched by the table.
What is she doing? Gigi gets up and runs for the doors, but he pursues and catches up with her. Holding her by the shoulder,s he demands how she dares mess with him. She screams for him to let her go; however, Mino relishes her fear.
The confrontation
“What? Are you scared? Why did you make a mockery of me? Gigi, I really wanted to go back to you. I wanted to try hard this time!”
“You tried to kill me,” she throws the known truth in his pathetic face.
Damn it! She tricked him, she treated him like crap! Gigi’s mouth pulls up in a sneer. He can kill others, but his life is precious?
“I thought about how to pay you back,” she continues, “I could just give you Sue, but how do I send you to hell?”
What? Hell? He raises his hand, does she want to die?
“This was it. Kill me. But kill me for sure this time, or I’ll kill you,” Gigi stares him in the eyes.
Mino pulls back temporarily with a sigh, seemingly making a decision. His hand wraps around her neck. She wants him to kill her, so he will. Gigi starts laughing upon hearing this declaration, making Mino wrap his other hand around her neck in anger. Kill me.
His hands are squeezing the life out of her. As she starts losing consciousness, a tear runs down Gigi’s cheek. As she starts sliding down, her body going limp, Mino is kicked off of her, losing his deathly grip.
Jay’s desperate rescue
Jay bends over the now unconscious Gigi on the floor. Gigi, wake up. Gigi. Wake up! Gigi!
Jay stares at her, breathing hard with the urgency of his arrival and the terror building up inside of him. Was she destined to die in Mino’s hands?
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