In the twelfth episode of The Manipulated, Tae-joong leads Yong-sik and Eun-bin to his mother's former abode, a sanctuary where Yo-han is unlikely to have deployed any surveillance cameras. Meanwhile, Officer Yang skillfully prompts the warden to call Yo-han with the news of Tae-poong's suicide, though it's clear to Yo-han that the warden is under duress.
As Tae-joong and his companions delve into Arleli's mysteries, they discover that an auction takes place every time a murder occurs, with the sculptures serving as payment for covering up the crime. Back at the prison, the internal affairs officers arrive but, rather than taking the warden into custody, they remove Officer Yang instead.
The following day, the auction for Arleli's 100th sculpture commences. Yo-han's nanny places a bid but loses the piece to a guest in a private room, who agrees to pay a staggering 10 billion won. As Yo-han and his guards enter the room, they find Do-kyung, heavily bandaged and seated in a wheelchair. A flashback reveals that Do-kyung never died; Tae-joong visited him in the hospital and struck a deal. Now, with Do-kyung's assistance, police officers arrest Yo-han. As he is being escorted out, Yo-han instructs his nanny to call his "friend," and to everyone's surprise, Do-kyung gives the police all he has on Yo-han, even if it implicates himself.
Back at the art gallery, a string of trucks depart with the Arleli sculptures, headed for Yo-han's residence. With the help of Tae-joong's friends who create a distraction on the road, Tae-joong sneaks in as one of the truck drivers. He then tells Eun-bi, who is watching from afar, to go home and stay with her father.
As Yo-han is held in a holding cell, we learn that his friend is none other than Yeo Deok-su. He and his gang members storm the police station and kill everyone inside, including Detective Hwang. Deok-su escorts Yo-han outside to his car, where the Chinese assassin awaits.
Yo-han drives to the hospital where he strangles Do-kyung while the assassin heads towards Yong-sik. By the time Eun-bi gets home, the assassin has already stabbed Yong-sik and then turns her sights on Eun-bi.
As Tae-joong retreated to Yo-han's abode, the workers completed their task of setting up the sculptures and departed, leaving Tae-joong to his own devices. Yo-han, aware of Tae-joong's presence, hastened home while Tae-joong sprinted through Yo-han's secret room, spying on everyone from the shadows. Unfortunately, an alarm sounded as Tae-joong grasped the hard disk.
Tae-joong dashed out, only to be confronted by Deok-su and his men. A fierce battle ensued, with Tae-joong effortlessly dispatching them all, including Deok-su. At this juncture, Yo-han arrived, brandishing his knife and revealing that he had known Tae-joong was coming all along. The hard drive he had stolen would self-destruct, for the real data was stored within a drive that was part of the knife itself.
Then, the Chinese assassin emerged, holding Eun-bi at knifepoint. Yo-han offered Tae-joong a deal: he would spare Eun-bi's life if Tae-joong killed Deok-su. But Tae-joong couldn't bring himself to do it coldly and dropped his knife.
Yo-han then revealed his true intentions: to kill Tae-joong and frame Eun-bi for it. That was why his 100th sculpture resembled her. In a flash, Tae-joong picked up his knife, and Eun-bi threw the assassin off balance. Eun-bi fainted, and in the meantime, Tae-joong knocked the assassin unconscious as well. They engaged in a fierce fight, with Tae-joong ultimately stabbing Yo-han with his own knife, pinning him to the large screen where he had wreaked so much havoc.
Months later, Yong-sik convalesced in the hospital while Eun-bi looked after him. News reports spoke of Yo-han's death in his burning house and of a whistleblower who had exposed Yo-han's nefarious deeds, as well as the prison guard (Officer Yang) whose confession had helped bring things to light. In light of these new findings, Tae-joong was soon pronounced not guilty!
Six months later, Tae-joong returned to setting up his plants and officially opened his cafe. Officer Yang was cleared of trouble as well and met Tae-joong, greeting him warmly. Yong-sik assisted him at the cafe, and they dined together at night with Eun-bi and Tae-joong's friends.
The episode concluded with someone else sitting in Yo-han's chair, watching the big screen with a newfound sense of peace.
