

Six years ago, Winni and Chester were a loving couple, until Chester's old friend Ruth returned to the country. Ruth disguised herself with a kind face and became friends with Winni, secretly plotting to replace Winni as Chester's wife. Not long after, Winni became pregnant, but the doctor informed Chester that the child had no blood relationship to him. Chester iced out Winni and gradually grew closer to Ruth. Six years later, Winni's son, Ron, was critically ill with leukemia. Only Chester's bone marrow could save him. In order to please Chester, Winni had to bow down to Ruth. However, during their interaction, she gradually uncovered why Chester thought Ron was an illegitimate child.

Ryan Scott, the iron-blooded shipping magnate who rules the seas around Habor City, decides to retire and marry the young and beautiful Yvonne Stafford, gifting her an eighty-million-dollar company as a wedding present. Little does he know, Yvonne has been conspiring with her childhood sweetheart Simon Baller—they drug Ryan and plot to seize his fortune. But Ryan catches on and lays an elaborate trap. At the wedding, he uses glue to humiliate them publicly. Afterward, he engineers a scheme that leaves Yvonne buried in massive debt, turning her family and friends against her. Yvonne, her brother, and Simon turn on each other in a vicious dog-eat-dog battle, and they all meet miserable ends. Having witnessed the depths of human treachery, Ryan abandons his retirement plans and reclaims his identity as the iron-blooded shipping king, continuing to dominate the underworld.

Clare was the woman Axel begged and coaxed for—writing 99 love letters—before finally winning her hand in marriage. By their fifth year,however, Axel grew restless and began spending time with a young nurse. The girl, Emma, came from a poor family yet carried herself with quiet pride. When she firmly rejected the black card Axel offered,declaring she would never be anyone's kept woman, he became obsessed. Axel started appearing around Emma more and more,drawing the attention of all their friends, while briefly forgetting the wife he had once courted with 99 heartfelt letters. Clare neither cried nor argued. Instead, each time Axel broke her heart, she burned one of those letters. And when the last of the 99 was reduced to ashes, it would mark the day she left him for good.