Betrayal at the Altar

Episode 1

The wedding of Vivian Sinclair and Gu Chuan is about to begin, but the bride can't find her groom or her best friend, Xu Jiaojiao. Elsewhere in the hotel, Gu Chuan and Xu Jiaojiao are together, gloating. He assures her the newly built cold storage has no cameras installed yet, so no one will come looking. They talk about the day the group is handed over and their new life begins. Then Qin Jianfeng walks in and recognizes Gu Chuan. He threatens to tell Vivian everything. Gu Chuan panics, and Xu Jiaojiao tells him to keep watch while the wedding finishes. The ceremony is announced—then Vivian stops it cold.

Episode 2

Vivian refuses to let the wedding proceed. Her father hasn't arrived, and she insists everyone must wait for him. Guests brush it off—maybe he's changing, maybe he's just emotional—but Vivian won't budge. Inside the freezer, Qin Jianfeng pounds on the door, shouting that the cold will kill him. Xu Jiaojiao sneers that the cold storage isn't even in use yet and tells him to wait until the wedding ends. He insists he's Vivian's father; she mocks him as just a cook. Meanwhile, Gu Chuan and Xu Jiaojiao prepare to walk in together. The ceremony continues, but something is clearly wrong.

Episode 3

The emcee asks Vivian who she most wants to thank. It's her father, she says—not her biological one. She tells the room how he raised her after her birth parents abandoned her at seven, never married, saved every penny for her schooling and her business, and stood up for her whenever she was bullied. "Raising me matters more than giving birth to me," she says. The guests are moved. Backstage, Xu Jiaojiao rushes in with terrible news: the old man in the freezer has stopped breathing. Gu Chuan shrugs it off—just a poor relative; pay some money and it's over. Then Vivian announces she wants to introduce her father, Qin Jianfeng.

Episode 4

Gu Chuan and Xu Jiaojiao realize the man locked in the freezer is Vivian's father. Xu Jiaojiao warns that Vivian built her empire with ruthless methods—if she finds out, none of them will escape. Their only path is to finish the wedding and let Gu Chuan take over the group, so that even if she learns the truth, it won't matter. Vivian notices her mother-in-law looks unwell and has Xu Jiaojiao escort her out. Then the emcee invites the bride's father to speak—and it's Gu Chuan's father who takes the stage. Vivian is furious: the person who raised her for over twenty years is her father, not his. She declares that if her father doesn't appear, she won't marry.

Episode 5

Guests murmur that Vivian is being unreasonable—half the wedding is done, and the room is full of major partners. Gu Chuan's mother urges her to think about the family's reputation. Vivian refuses. Her father can't be reached, which likely means something has happened, and she has to find him now. She tells the room that anyone who can't wait is free to leave, but anyone who blocks her search will never do business with the Sinclair Group again. The guests quickly fall in line. Vivian orders Chen Qing to contact security and pull all the kitchen-area surveillance footage. She wants to see exactly where her father went.

Episode 6

Xu Jiaojiao claims the kitchen cameras failed—old wiring, heavy grease, high heat. Vivian isn't buying it. Chen Qing points out that the chairwoman personally approved military-grade, heat-resistant cameras last month; they're waterproof, oil-proof, and built to last ten years. When Vivian presses Xu Jiaojiao, Gu Chuan jumps to her defense, and the guests start whispering about why the groom is so protective of the logistics supervisor. Vivian tells him she's not interested in his excuses. She orders the hotel sealed immediately—no one leaves until her father is found. Anyone who let harm come to him, she warns, will answer for it with their whole family.

Episode 7

Vivian goes to the kitchen herself. On a cutting board she finds the knife set she gave her father—he always wiped them clean and stored them carefully. Left out like this, he must have left in a hurry. Chen Qing says they have no other leads. Gu Chuan and Xu Jiaojiao try to steer her away, urging her to change out of her wedding dress. Vivian asks where the last footage showed him heading: the cold storage. Xu Jiaojiao and Gu Chuan immediately push her toward the dressing room instead, insisting the freezer is filthy and full of raw meat. Then Vivian hears something—her father's voice.

Episode 8

Vivian freezes. She asks if anyone else heard it. No one did. Chen Qing suggests she's exhausted and imagining things; Gu Chuan says the kitchen is stuffy and offers to take her outside for air. Vivian doubts herself—until she hears it again. Inside the freezer, Qin Jianfeng's voice breaks: he can't be there for her anymore, but these twenty-plus years with her made his life worth it. He begs her to keep her eyes open and walk on. Vivian suddenly clutches her chest—it feels like something is being pulled out of her life. She asks Gu Chuan if her father might really be in danger. He dismisses it. Then she hears the sound again, clearly, from inside.

Episode 9

Vivian insists the noise came from the freezer. Gu Chuan and Xu Jiaojiao insist the opposite: the temperature is far below freezing, the space is small and visible at a glance, and the kitchen staff went in and out all day—if Qin Jianfeng were inside, someone would have noticed. Vivian stands her ground; she heard it clearly. Then a staff member rushes in with urgent news: an ambulance just left the hotel, carrying a severely injured chef from the kitchen. Vivian is shaken. Gu Chuan tries to comfort her, saying he'll take care of her in her father's place. She tells him no one can replace her father.

Episode 10

The injured chef is Luo Hai. A doctor explains that before losing consciousness, he said a drunk man struck his head; when medics arrived, he was alone in the kitchen. Vivian asks a worker how many freezers the kitchen has. Originally one—but a new one was built last month and isn't officially in use yet. Vivian demands to know why no one told her. The worker says it was reported to Gu Chuan and Supervisor Xu, assuming she already knew. Gu Chuan claims he kept it quiet to spare her, then says the new freezer is unfinished and empty—no one could be inside. Vivian tells him to get out of her way.

Vivian won't stop until she finds her father—follow her down into the cold and see what's really behind that locked door.