The Penthouse S2 Ep 9 & 10 RECAP: Cheon Seo Jin & Oh Yoon Hee to join hands and Bae Rona is alive!

We are inching closer to the finale of the second season of the flagship drama and the adrenaline levels of this makjang series are hitting through the roof! In the previous episodes, we saw the true devious side of Joo Dante and how he entraps Cheon Seo Jin in a conniving criminal conspiracy, by forcing her to marry him and separating her from her daughter, Ha Eun Byeol and ex-husband, Ha Yoon Chul. Now, in the latest episodes, the plot has intensified further.

Episode 9 begins with Logan Lee and Yoon Hee trying to get Na Ae Gyo to join hands with them, but she scoffs them off and simply walks away. Cheon Seo Jin reaches Joo Dante's penthouse and begins searching for Ha Eun Byeol's necklace, but turns out Joo Dante possesses it. He blackmails her saying Ha Eun Byeol will be in trouble if she doesn't co-operate and marry him. Cheon Seo Jin, defeated, cries to Ha Yoon Chul and tells him to protect Ha Eun Byeol and himself. 

At school, Seok Kyung confronts Ha Eun Byeol about dating her brother, Seok Hoon. She shows her forearm, marked with bruises and marks of the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her father. She warns Ha Eun Byeol to not take Joo Dante lightly. At school, a committee of board members and executives have been tasked to decide Cheon Seo Jin's fate as school director. It’s a split decision but one that eventually sees Seo Jin allowed to stay on by one vote. Seo Jin’s Mother and sister are furious. The board members reveal to Seo Jin that her late-father asked them for this favour. Seo Jin is ashamed of her behaviour. 

Meanwhile, Logan Lee and Yoon Hee head to Golden Real Estate and break the news that property value is about to increase dramatically in Dante's property locations. This leads all the different residents at Hera Palace to begin buying out the properties, completely messing up Dante’s plans. Dante requests Na Ae Gyo to deal with Yoon Hee, little knowing that she is in fact having coffee with her. Yoon Hee makes one last attempt to convince Ae Gyo to join their team, but she isn't listening. Yoon Hee invites Seok Hoon and Seok Kyung to another table and reveals to them the secret about their birth mother. 

Seok Hoon and Seok Kyung are shell-shocked upon the revelation and the fact that she looks exactly like Shim Su Ryeon. The kids leave the table and Ae Gyo watches them leave, teary-eyed. Meanwhile, Yoon Chul confronts Dante about the impending wedding between him and Cheon Seo Jin. Dante reveals that Ha Eun Byeol killed Bae Rona, and we see a visual of Joo Dante pulling the oxygen pulling the plug in the hospital that fateful day. But was this really Ro Na?

Cheon Seo Jin tells Ha Yoon Chul to take Ha Eun Byeol to America and settle her there, till she doesn't settle scores with Dante. As the father-daughter duo are leaving, the police arrest Ha Yoon Chul for killing Bae Rona. Yoon Chul is dragged by the cops and Ha Eun Byeol returns home with Seok Hoon. This, as we soon learn, is all Dan-Tae’s doing.

Meanwhile, Seo Jin is forced to marry Dante in a lavish ceremony with fireworks and heart-shaped sparks! But she is in no mood to smile. While on the bike with Seok Hoon, Ha Eun Byeol regains her lost memories, including how she killed Bae Rona. 

In episode 10, we see Dante entertaining the guests at his and Seo Jin's wedding, while Seo Jin is the least bit interested in the show. Assemblyman Kyu Jin receives a call from the police station. Yoon Chul has been caught and arrested for Ro Na’s murder. This, as it turns out, was Dante’s wedding gift to Seo Jin. Seo Jin is shocked and rushes to see Ha Eun Byeol and Ha Yoon Chul.

Ha Eun Byeol returns home to find that her mother did marry Joo Dante after all, and is distraught to know this. She is also shocked to know that Seok Hoon fooled her so that she confesses her crime to him. At the police station, the janitor admits that Yoon Chul paid him off. As we soon see, Secretary Jo was the one who roughed him up, forcing the man to admit to this. Even worse Yoon Chul confesses to the murder too, for Eun Byeol's sake. 

Seo Jin reaches home to find Eun Byeol acting crazy. After an intense screaming match between them, Eun Byeol tearfully confesses that she hit Rona on her shoulder and tried to injure her, but she did not kill her. It turns out she heard a phone ring during the fateful moment on the stairwell and that’s what snapped her out of her trance. Is it Joo Dante's doing?

Dante beings to suspect Na Ae Gyo who seems to be different. He points out that she hasn't smoked since she returned to the penthouse and even holds her glass differently, he checks her butterfly tattoo, but it seems alright. By now, it is confirmed to viewers that Ae Gyo is in fact Shim Su Ryeon herself! 

Dante begins torturing Seo Jin by making her a housemaid and even beating her up mercilessly. He proceeds to lock her in a dingy basement, mocking at her sorry state. He throws the Cheong A property papers at her and barks at her, declaring that he will release her only when she has signed the papers and handed him the property. Seo Jin looks at the portrait of Shim Su Ryeon and asks her if this is her revenge on her? 

Yoon Hee arrives at the prison and hands over the divorce papers. She goes one step further though and tells him that he’s actually Ro Na’s father too. She tells him to apologize to Ro Na for what he’s done and walks away. Yoon Chul is shell-shocked at the confession. 

Meanwhile, Logan Lee meets Ae Gyo outside Golden Real Estate while she’s trying to secure Lot 27. She refuses to do so and promises to destroy anyone in her way. Only, the words she uses remind him of Su Ryeon. Ae-Gyo heads back to see Dante, showing off the necklace as Ae Gyo asks outright whether he killed Rona or not? 

We go back in time and it is confirmed that it was indeed Joo Dante whose ringtone alarmed Ha Eun Byeol, he further stabbed Rona with the trophy, washed and changed into another suit and went back into the audience. Secretary Jo deleted all the CCTV footage while Dante set off the fire alarm, to scare the guests and cause a stampede. 

Na Ae Gyo tries hard to make him confess the murder fully aware that Yoon Hee is listening to their conversation. Yoon Hee is convinced that Dante murdered her daughter. Seok Kyung frees Seo Jin out of the basement. Seo Jin rushes to Dante's bedroom and sees him lying on the bed, unconscious. She checks his phone and realises that the suit is a different one and that his ring tone matches Eun Byeol's description. She concludes that Dante has a hand in Rona's murder!

Seok Hoon escorts Seo Jin out. Seo Jin meets Yoon Hee and begs her to save her life. She admits that Ha Eun Byeol tried to harm Rona but didn't murder her. She requests Yoon Hee to join hands with her to bring about Joo Dante's downfall and finding out the real truth behind Rona's murder.

Back home, post the auction where Na Ae Gyo bid 50 million dollars on Dante's property, winning the auction, Logan notices pictures of Ae Gyo, and specifically Su Ryeon’s necklace which happens to be on her bag. Logan bursts back into the room and hugs Ae Gyo, admitting that he knows she’s Su-Ryeon. Unfortunately, while they embrace, footsteps approach and burst into the room, as they look horrified.

ALSO READ: Penthouse S2 vs Love Alarm S2 - why the former worked and the latter didn't

Do you think Logan Lee and Na Ae Gyo aka Shim Su Ryeon will get exposed in front of Dante? Share your thoughts with Pinkvilla in the comments below.