Episode 2 · Mia Chen, Ethan Hale, Victoria Hale
Ethan approaches Mia Chen at the cosmetics counter with an offer. He wants her to act as his date at a family dinner to dodge an arranged blind date. In exchange, he offers five thousand dollars an hour to offset the damaged cufflink and teases her about hotel rooms. Later, an expensive designer dress arrives at Mia's apartment. Mia worries about tricking his family, but Luna urges her to accept the money.
At the cosmetics counter, Ethan Hale instructs Mia Chen to accompany him to a family dinner. He wants to avoid an arranged blind date and offers five thousand dollars an hour. He playfully reminds her not to walk into the wrong hotel room again.
An expensive designer dress arrives at Mia Chen and Luna's apartment. Mia expresses deep anxiety about lying to the wealthy Hale family. Luna highlights the massive hourly pay and wonders aloud why Ethan did not just ask for cufflink repair money instead.
“Tomorrow night, pretend to be my date and come with me to a family dinner.”
“This isn't hitting the jackpot. It's walking straight into a trap.”
“He could have simply demanded compensation. Why go through all this trouble just to make you pretend to be his girlfriend?”
Luna asks why Ethan went through so much trouble to recruit a fake girlfriend when he could have just demanded cash for his cufflink. Mia sits on the couch clutching a cushion in silent thought. Will Mia go through with the dinner scheme, and what is Ethan's actual goal in bringing her into his family circle?