Fated to My Cruel CEO

Episode 1

Helen dances at a club to chip away at a crushing debt, and when a customer pushes for more than a dance, she shuts him down hard. Her boss isn't impressed—he reminds her he paid off her debt and threatens her if the complaints keep coming. Across town, billionaire Edward Arduin is under pressure from his father to marry Carla, the daughter of a family friend. Edward refuses, the argument dragging up old wounds about the orphanage. Then he spots Helen at the club—and freezes. She looks exactly like the girl he's been hunting for ten years.

Episode 2

Edward stuns everyone by proposing on the spot. His assistant questions the choice—she's a stripper—but Edward brushes it off; he's decided, and he'll tell his father he's found his own wife. He offers Helen a deal: name her price, and marry him. Helen admits she owes her boss $500,000 and can't walk away until it's paid. Edward covers it. He brings her to his home and corrects her—this is our house now. Then comes the paperwork: a one-year contract marriage, after which she's free to file for divorce. Until then, she's part of the country's richest family.

Episode 3

The two lay down ground rules. Helen tells Edward her heart belongs to someone else, and Edward makes it clear he isn't attracted to her either—this is a marriage on paper only. Helen shrugs it off; she wanted the money. She asks where she's sleeping, expecting the guest room, and finds him cold and dismissive. Alone, she admits it's been over ten years and she still misses someone. Meanwhile, Edward quietly tasks his assistant with digging into his new wife's past—specifically, whether she grew up in the same orphanage he did.

Episode 4

A small domestic clash turns tense when Edward catches Helen in his bathroom and assumes she's playing games to get his attention. She insists she was only cleaning the carpet and asks him to turn off the water—she's his wife, not his maid. The friction is interrupted by an unexpected visitor: a woman storms in, recognizes Helen as the stripper from the club, and demands to know what she's doing in Edward's house. Helen fires the question right back—who is this woman? The answer lands like a slap: she's Carla.

Episode 5

Carla doesn't hide her fury, accusing Edward of marrying a stripper when she believed she was his fiancée. Edward sets the record straight: their match was arranged by his father for the families' sake, and he has someone he's loved and waited for—it was never going to be Carla. Carla turns her venom on Helen, warning her she's finished if she thinks she can compete. Helen refuses to take the bait, calmly saying she isn't competing at all. Carla is stunned when Edward defends Helen. Later, the newlyweds trade cold house rules.

Episode 6

Helen's friend Velma introduces herself—she's worked odd jobs across the city, waitressing and nightclub shifts, all chasing a shot at acting. She's also searching for someone, hoping he'll one day see her on screen and know she's still here. At the house, Helen tries to keep her distance, asking for her meals to be brought to her room since she doesn't usually eat with people anyway. She announces she's heading out, and Edward icily replies that where she goes is none of his concern. The staff quietly acknowledge he's just used to living alone.

Episode 7

Velma corners Helen with the rumor that she married the famous billionaire Edward Arduin—and confirms it's true. Helen admits she had no idea he was a billionaire until afterward; it all started with a signed contract. Velma urges her to seal the deal and move on, but Helen can't stop thinking about Algar, the boy she escaped the orphanage with ten years ago. Velma gently warns he could be gone, but Helen refuses to believe it. Her new plan: focus on acting instead of stripping—starting with today's audition.

Episode 8

Helen arrives at the audition, only to be ambushed. Carla is there—and she's the lead of the production. She sneers at Helen for showing up at all, calling her a slut and blocking her from reading. Helen protests that she worked so hard for this opportunity, but Carla twists the knife, mocking her past dancing for men. Helen insists it was only dancing, and Carla dismisses the distinction with contempt. She tells Helen she "eats girls like you," then sweeps out with her companion, leaving Helen pleading for a chance that's already gone.

Episode 9

Edward's assistant delivers the report: Helen went to a high school not far from here, auditioned for films, worked nightclubs to survive, and had a bad relationship with her parents. But she's not an orphan—no name changes, never been to an orphanage. Edward is gutted, admitting he wanted it to be her so badly. His assistant presses him: after ten years of searching, who is this girl? His answer is simple and devastating—someone more important to him than life itself. Then a realization hits. It is her.

Edward has been chasing a ghost for ten years, and Helen has no idea she's standing right in the middle of his search. Start the first episode and watch how close they've been all along.