There was no appreciation for beauty.

Being pretty didn't mean anything.

Being pretty meant nothing. At all.

People thought her life was easy because she had money. Lots of it. Intelligence. Scarily so. Power. As much as she could maintain. And beauty. But that beauty was a scar. It had no power. In fact, her beauty was a weakness.

Being pretty led to assumptions. Some, garnered by jealous onlookers and observers. Others, of her own creation.

Being pretty hadn't worked out for her. Yet her beauty was the one thing she possessed wholly. Even if she did something drastic, her beauty would stay. If only for a few decades. But those were the decades which would matter.

Her beauty was cold. Harsh. Every inch of softness she had—she worked hard to diminish. If those boys could use their beauty as fronts for savagery, then why shouldn't she?

Beauty hadn't made Kim Tan stay. It was one of the things he actively ignored. He was indifferent to it. Completely detached from it.

All her life she'd been praised for her prettiness. By strangers in the street. By her mother. By her father. By her…friends. Well, they had been friends. But now, it felt like lies and mockery.

And every time she was complimented, she wanted to scream and rage. Scream until her throat was raw.

"YOU WANT MY BEAUTY? TAKE IT. IT'S DONE NOTHING FOR ME. NO ONE APPRECIATES IT. LESSER GIRLS, AVERAGE GIRLS HAVE MORE THAN I DO. MY BEAUTY IS WORTHLESS. I AM WORTHLESS. I AM NOTHING. HE DIDN'T WANT ME. THEN I MET ANOTHER HIM. HE DIDN'T WANT ME EITHER. NO ONE WANTS ME."

But she swallowed it. Swallowed her screams. Kim Tan didn't want her. Hyo Shin didn't want her. That was worse, because he at least possessed a conscience. But that conscience made him go back to his tutor-love.

Who wanted her? No one.

But no, she refused to bow down. She wasn't worthless. They were worthless. They wanted plain, average, simple, natural girls? So be it. She wouldn't relent.

She'd be the one to make them bow down.