Hae-Joo's father, an oil scholar, is betrayed and killed by Do-Hyun (Lee Deok-Hwa). Do-Hyun, who loves Hae-Joo's mother Geum-Hee (Yang Mi-Kyeong), then orders Gi-Chool (Kim Kyu-Cheol) to kill 2-year-old Hae-Joo, but Gi-Chool can't go through with it.  Gi-Chool takes 2-year-old Hae-Joo and tells others that he is taking her to the beach. He makes it appear Hae-Joo drowns by the beach, but in actuality, takes Hae-Joo to live with his old military acquaintance Hong-Chul (Ahn Nae-Sang). Unaware of all this, Hae-Joo's mother marries Do-Hyun, who has two children from a previous marriage.  11 years later, Hae-Joo (later played by Han Ji-Hye) and her family arrive in the city of Ulsan, running away from debtors. Hae-Joo takes care of the family, instead of her incompetent father and mother who hates Hae-Joo. She is transferred to the same elementary school where Do-Hyun's daughter In-Hwa (later played by Son Eun-Seo) attends. On Hae-Joo's first day at her new school, she has a physical struggle with In-Hwa. Due to their fight, In-Hwa's mother Geum-Hee is called in to the school and she sees Hae-Joo (her daughter that she thought drowned).