Perfect Proposal

Yoo Ji-yeon, Lim Soo-jung, is a Korean university graduate who ends up working as a waiter in a Macanese bar under the alias “Jenny Yoo” after a coworker steals her credit card and drains her money, leaving her with mounting debt. A Macanese friend sets up a job interview with Sung-yeol, Yoo Yeon-seok, who is the illegitimate son of Kim Seok-gu, Lee Kyung-young, a powerful casino chairman who owns half of Macau’s casinos. Sung-yeol asks Ji-yeon to become Seok-gu’s new bride so she can inherit his property and split the fortune with him, a plan born from Sung-yeol’s inability to inherit on his own due to his status, and a calculated move to change Ji-yeon’s life in one decisive stroke.

Arriving at Seok-gu’s yacht, Ji-yeon becomes part of Seok-gu’s entourage that includes Captain Park, Park Cheol-min, the Korean ship captain; Ji Yoo-mi, Min Do-hee, who tends to Seok-gu’s pet chihuahua; the loyal Viktor, Enes Kaya, the Russian dog; and Khan, Mahbub Alam. Under Seok-gu’s sharp tongue and relentless berating, Ji-yeon endures a steady barrage of criticism while secretly learning the rhythms and manners that once defined his late wife. She begins to mirror those habits, inviting similes of old rituals and routines, and gradually awakens a gentler side in him, even coaxing him to return to a piano hobby he had shelved after his family’s deaths. Seok-gu, in turn, opens up about his past as a “circus” performer in Macau, explains his habit of using a whistle and shouting, and hints at a woman who helped him reach his current position.

Meanwhile, Ji-yeon finds solace in Sung-yeol, with whom she has started to fall in love. Khan, ever watchful, quietly keeps tabs on their conversations, complicating Ji-yeon’s attempt to keep the affair discreet. One night she confesses to Sung-yeol how trapped she feels by the plan and the prospect of living ten years with Seok-gu if the scheme ever succeeds; she questions whether she can endure such a life. In response, Seok-gu unexpectedly proposes to her the next day and reveals that his will has been modified to include her name. Before the wedding reception, he tells Sung-yeol he has dismissed him, claiming he has “90% work, but not 10% luck” to inherit the casinos, a line that hints at deeper envy and strategy. At the reception, Seok-gu affectionately nicknames Ji-yeon “Cinderella,” a term that sits oddly atop the growing tension.

Yet tragedy strikes when Seok-gu dies the night after the wedding. Sung-yeol urges Ji-yeon and the entourage to stay composed on the way to Busan, and to deliver Seok-gu’s body to his home so that Sung-yeol can sign his father’s modified will, which in theory secures Ji-yeon’s inheritance. Ji-yeon struggles to maintain the act in front of Jang Hye-jin, Seok-gu’s personal assistant, Jin Kyung, who begins to suspect something is off. Soon Ji-yeon is arrested by the police and accused of murder, learning that Sung-yeol had planned to inherit a 90% stake of the estate by leveraging her position, with the remaining 10% allocated to charity due to South Korean inheritance law—a scheme designed to both seize control of the business and avenge his mother’s abandonment by Seok-gu.

Khan is the only one who seems to know the truth, but Sung-yeol silences him to keep the ruse intact. The moment is further complicated when the chihuahua, which carried a camera, reveals the real killer: Sung-yeol. Khan’s death leaves Ji-yeon with little protection, and Sung-yeol does all he can to keep her from exposing him. With Khan out of the way and the evidence hidden, Ji-yeon finally confronts the realization that Sung-yeol manipulated her from the start.

The police close in as Sung-yeol is linked to multiple murders, and Ji-yeon’s inheritance—Seok-gu’s vast casino empire in Macau—becomes hers. At Seok-gu’s funeral, Ji-yeon pieces together the truth with help from Yoo-mi, who has been trying to shield her from danger. In the end, Ji-yeon visits Sung-yeol in prison, and he reveals that he never truly loved her. He confesses that he was the one who sculpted her “Cinderella” fate as a means to seize control and exact revenge. Ji-yeon walks away with a quiet, knowing smile, having secured her future, and leaving Sung-yeol to face the consequences of his actions.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:45