cast of payback: money and power

Three years ago, Dylan Smith, heir to the Cloudrise Group, hid his true identity and chose a life of quiet obscurity at Wendy Lewis's side. In secret, he even used Cloudrise's name to rescue the Lewis family from collapse. His devotion was repaid with betrayal: his fiancée Wendy and her family turned on him, while Frank Lee's schemes left him humiliated and disgraced.No longer willing to stay silent, Dylan returned wielding the full power of both Cloudrise Group and Wilson Group. Calm yet relentless, he exposed Frank's lies and dismantled the Lewis family's deceptions piece by piece.At his side stood Rachel Wilson, the Wilson heiress who grew from a silent protector into his strongest ally. Together, they faced public humiliation, deadly traps, and ruthless battles for power. In this world of shifting loyalties,love and betrayal collide with revenge and redemption.Some rise to reclaim their throne, while others are left to drown in regret and loneliness.

Wilson Zander's family was massacred during his childhood. Before dying at the hands of the traitor Peter, Wilson's father imparted his lifelong martial arts mastery and entrusted him with the Dark Iron Token. Fifteen years later, Wilson concealed his identity and toiled as a lowly worker at Logan's Martial Arts School. There, he witnessed the lackey Quinn brazenly humiliating Shanok's martial traditions, subjecting his fiancée, Rose Logan, to unimaginable torment. Unable to endure any longer, Wilson's long-buried memories resurfaced. Unleashing his true strength, he defeated Quinn—only to draw the attention of Musah Yagu, a formidable warrior from the Eastern Isles. With the unparalleled power of the Tai Chi Thirteen Fist Forms, Wilson overwhelmed Yagu. Soon after, he uncovered Peter's sinister conspiracy and exposed his treachery to the world. In the final confrontation, Wilson defeated Kuma Amano and ascended as the Martial Lord of Shanok. He vowed to defend Shanok's martial legacy and stand against the impending threat of the Eastern Isles.

In their previous lives, the empress and the consort spent their whole lives locked in a bitter rivalry. It wasn't until their deaths that they uncovered the truth—they had both been pawns in the emperor's game. Their children were used to turn them against each other, and their families had all perished at the emperor's hands. Reborn, the empress returns to the very day the emperor falsely accused her of causing the consort's miscarriage. This time, she does everything she can to protect her former enemy. But before she can offer an explanation, she discovers that the consort has been reborn as well. Once they confirm their shared secret, the two women turn from rivals to allies, determined to take down the unfaithful emperor together. In their previous lives, the emperor's power was still shaky at this point, and he relied heavily on the political influence of both women's families. This time, the empress uses his greed against him and brings him to his own downfall. At the story's close, the consort embraces a life of peace while the empress ascends the throne with grace. For once, the women of the imperial harem live peacefully, free of rivalry. Who says a woman can't wear the crown?

Evelyn Summers is a formidable, self-made businesswoman who spent a decade building both her empire and her marriage alongside her husband, Aaron Quinn. From a modest street food stall to a publicly listed corporation, they rose together, and Evelyn took pride in what she believed was an unbreakable partnership founded on love and trust.That illusion shatters when she uncovers a devastating truth. Aaron had orchestrated a car accident that caused Evelyn to lose their child at eight months pregnant, leaving her unable to conceive again. Even more cruelly, he had been carrying on a secret affair with her younger sister, Natalie Summers. The life Evelyn cherished, her marriage, her family, her past, was nothing more than a web of lies carefully spun around her.Refusing to be broken, Evelyn fights back. She removes Aaron from his position as chairman and casts him out with nothing to his name. As the truth comes to light, Aaron spirals into madness and is confined to a psychiatric institution, while Natalie, the true mastermind behind the deadly plot, is brought to justice and sent to prison.Rising from the wreckage of betrayal and loss, Evelyn reclaims her power, her future, and her crown, proving that a queen is not destroyed by ruins, but crowned upon them.