One And Only Summary by Chapter | Maurene Goo
Introduction To “One And Only” (Chapter-by-Chapter Summary)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to know—with absolute certainty—the name of your soulmate before you even meet them?
The novel follows Cassia Park, a forty-year-old matchmaker at a prestigious Beverly Hills agency founded on a centuries-old Korean family secret: the ability to see past lives and identify “fated” connections through the red thread of fate.
Cassia has spent a decade knowing her destined partner is a man named Daniel Nam, yet her carefully planned life unravels after a bicycle accident introduces her to Ellis—a charming, twenty-eight-year-old landscape architect who feels anything but accidental.
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Book Structure Overview
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Chapters | 53 |
| Parts | Not formally divided into “Parts,” but follows a chronological L.A. narrative followed by a Michigan detour and resolution |
| Prologue/Epilogue | No formal titles; Chapter 52 serves as an epilogue (“The Next Year”) and Chapter 53 is a standalone past-life story (“Another Life”) |
| Narrative POV | First-person (Cassia Park) |
| Key Settings | Beverly Hills, Silver Lake, Joshua Tree, San Luis Obispo, and Ann Arbor, Michigan |
Book Table of Contents
Chapters ONE through FIFTY-THREE
A Similar Summary To Read Next:
One And Only Summary Chapter by Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This section contains detailed, chapter-by-chapter plot summaries.
Chapter 1: The Scent of Lilacs
Cassia Park begins a Monday morning at One & Only Matchmaking in Beverly Hills, noting the office smells like lilacs for her birthday month.
She manages a meticulous schedule of face-readings while waiting for updates from a private investigator searching for her fated match, Daniel Nam. Her Halmoni (grandmother), the agency’s formidable founder, arrives and challenges Cassia to handle a high-profile celebrity reading.
Cassia reflects on the family business and the unique “face-reading” gift passed down through the Park women.
Chapter 2: The Red Thread
Cassia reads the face of actress Gemma Flores, identifying her as a woman who is symmetrical but suspicious. During the reading, Cassia enters a past-life vision of 19th-century Spain and sees the “red thread of fate” connecting Gemma to a man.
Back in the present, they use an ancient apothecary cupboard to reveal the match’s name: Peter Cruz. Cassia directs her interns to find him while secretly pining over her own fated drawer, labeled “Daniel Nam.”
Chapter 3: The L.A. River Fall
Cassia attempts to ignore her “birthday week” angst by going on a Saturday bike ride through Frogtown. During the ride, she overcorrects her bike and rolls down a concrete culvert into the L.A. River.
She is rescued by a handsome, mixed-race man named Ellis, who calls 911 and stays to calm her. Despite her embarrassment and a minor concussion, she finds him “devastatingly wholesome.”
Chapter 4: The Workaholic
Cassia returns to work despite her family’s concerns, throwing herself into finding the correct Peter Cruz for Gemma. She meets with her Aunt Sunny to plan a matchmaking gala at LACMA, leveraging a former client’s connections. Halmoni expresses worry that Cassia works too much, a trait Cassia knows she inherited from the matriarch herself. The chapter ends when Shreya announces a surprise visitor is waiting in the lobby.
Chapter 5: Pastries and History
Ellis visits the office to ensure Cassia is recovering well, leading to a chaotic introduction to her aunts and grandmother.
Cassia takes him for coffee at a nearby café, where Ellis reveals he is 28 years old—eleven years younger than her. He asks her out on a date, but Cassia initially rejects him because of the age gap and her focus on her fated future. However, she finds his persistence and knowledge of landscape architecture “endearing.”
Chapter 6: The Pre-Birthday Dinner
The entire Park family and Cassia’s best friend, Marcella, gather for a birthday dinner at her grandparents’ Spanish villa.
Cassia feels like the odd one out as the only unmarried, childless family member. The family grills her about Ellis, whom they met briefly at the office, but Cassia insists they won’t see each other again. The evening ends with a digital surprise: Ellis begins following the agency’s new Instagram account.
Chapter 7: A Reckless Night
Cassia drinks decaf to sober up while scrolling through Ellis’s wholesome social media feed. She impulsively leaves a comment on his photo of Mongolia, sparking a flirty DM exchange late at night.
Feeling restless and reckless as her 40th birthday approaches, she sends him her address. Ellis arrives, and despite the presence of her cranky cockatoo, Betty, the two share a night of intense physical chemistry.
Chapter 8: Gardening and Grief
Cassia wakes up late and finds Ellis already awake, feeding Betty and making coffee—activities the bird usually hates.
They spend the day together at her bungalow, where Ellis professionalizes her garden by planting geraniums. Cassia opens up about her mother’s death on her 8th birthday, a trauma she rarely discusses.
Ellis reveals he is a “little-brother-of-a-sister” type, and Cassia realizes she is genuinely falling for him.
Chapter 9: The Magic of the Unexpected
They drive to K-Town for a late-night meal of hand-cut noodles and banchan. Cassia tries to ground the relationship in reality, explaining that as a woman turning 40, she doesn’t have the luxury of “going where the wind takes” Ellis.
Ellis argues that there is still room for “magic” and romance even within biological realities. Back at her house, Cassia ignores the “warning bell” of his youth for one more night.
Chapter 10: The Birthday Road Trip
On her actual birthday, Cassia prepares for her annual solo road trip to Joshua Tree. Ellis discovers it’s her birthday and tries to be sweet, but she maintains that he isn’t her boyfriend.
She drops him at his Silver Lake office, where they share a firm goodbye kiss. The moment is shattered when Ellis introduces his boss: Daniel Nam-Watson.
Chapter 11: Desert Coincidences
Reeling from the shock that her fated match is Ellis’s boss, Cassia drives to her desert yurt in Joshua Tree. She spends her first day drinking wine and researching Daniel’s career as a landscape architect.
On her second evening, a group of campers arrives at the neighboring yurts: Daniel’s entire firm. Daniel and Ellis both greet her, with Daniel flirting instantly while Ellis looks on with intimacy.
Chapter 12: Shrooms and Sincerity
Ellis brings a lantern to Cassia’s yurt and invites her to join the group’s bonfire. Daniel is playing guitar, and the atmosphere is peaceful for a drunk work retreat.
Cassia takes a single mushroom and drinks organic wine with the group, feeling relaxed for the first time in days. She learns that Daniel mentored Ellis and that the two have a deep professional “bromance.”
Chapter 13: Truth and Grit
Cassia and Ellis walk away from the group into the dark desert night. She tells him the full, brutal story of her mother’s brain aneurysm and how it defined her need for a “fated” family.
Ellis comforts her and reveals his own secret: he was married to his high school sweetheart and divorced by 22. They roll in the desert sand, laughing and kissing, as Cassia decides to let the “magic” of the moment win.
Chapter 14: The Boulder Climb
The next morning, Cassia goes hiking alone but runs into Daniel at a large rock formation. Daniel boosts her up the rock in a playful, athletic maneuver that leaves Cassia breathless.
They bond over being “orphans” after Daniel reveals his adoptive parents died in a car accident.
He shares his water bottle with her in an intensely intimate way, leaving Cassia deeply conflicted as Ellis watches them return.
Chapter 15: The Sound Bath Vision
The firm attends a sound bath, and Cassia is sandwiched between Ellis and Daniel. During the meditation, Cassia has a startlingly vivid vision of herself in a past-life Korean house with Daniel as her husband.
The vision features a baby crying, which shakes Cassia to her core. Afterward, she drives away from the camp, crying as she realizes she must end things with Ellis to follow her fate.
Chapter 16: The Sage Note
Cassia returns to her yurt to find a mason jar of blooming purple sage and a note from Ellis signed with “love.” She goes to his yurt to break up with him, telling him she thought they were a “one-time deal” that went too far.
Ellis is hurt but dignified, noting that “the age thing” is clearly the barrier. Cassia flees back to her yurt, feeling like she ruined his day.
Chapter 17: Validating the Choice
Back in L.A., Cassia debriefs with Marcella over burgers and wine. She admits that the sex with Ellis was the best of her life, making her choice of Daniel feel complicated.
Cassia tries to read Marcella’s face to “confirm” her friend’s marriage is fated, but Marcella refuses, insisting she chose her husband through love, not fate.
Cassia realizes she hasn’t told her family about finding Daniel yet because of the immense expectation.
Chapter 18: Operation Meet-Cute
Cassia reveals she found Daniel to the Park women during a champagne lunch. They are ecstatic but concerned by the “Ellis complication,” insisting they must arrange a “natural” second meeting.
Halmoni decides the LACMA gala is the perfect venue for Daniel to be properly introduced. Cassia agrees to figure out the invitation herself, resisting the family’s “group project” approach.
Chapter 19: The Runny Nose
On a Saturday bike ride, Cassia and Marcella run into Daniel and Ellis at their regular coffee spot. Daniel is charming with “steeliness under the slick exterior,” while Ellis is polite but distant.
Prodded by Marcella, Cassia asks Daniel if he is single and invites him to the exclusive LACMA event. He gives her his contact info, and “Operation Meet-Cute” is officially in motion.
Chapter 20: The Fuchsia Dress
The Park women help Cassia prepare for the gala, debating her outfit with “boomer” intensity. She chooses a long, silk fuchsia dress that makes her feel “ten feet tall.”
Halmoni expresses relief that Daniel isn’t married, mentioning that sometimes fated matches are “ineligible.” The family shares a moment of grief over Cassia’s mother, noting Cassia looks like her more than ever tonight.
Chapter 21: The Corgi in a Tux
The LACMA event features “Urban Light” as a backdrop and a crowd of serious clients.
Daniel texts Cassia a photo of a corgi in a tuxedo, showing a corny but endearing side. When he arrives, he looks like “a tumbler of whiskey on a cold night.”
They discuss the agency’s face-reading methods, and Daniel admits he is picky about finding “the right person” after his parents’ poor marriage.
Chapter 22: The David Hockney Moment
Cassia takes Daniel on a private tour of the museum’s galleries.
They run into Halmoni, who gives Daniel a cursory, indifferent greeting to maintain the agency’s professional facade.
Daniel asks for clarification on her relationship with Ellis, and Cassia confirms she ended it because of the age gap. Daniel notes that Ellis has been “subdued” lately, which fills Cassia with guilt even as they share a moment of intense connection.
Chapter 23: The Family Landline
The agency’s office is quiet following the successful gala, but Halmoni pressures Cassia to follow up with Daniel. Cassia negotiates with Halmoni to expand the agency’s social media reach, arguing that it creates more “love stories.”
Daniel calls her, and they flirt via text, comparing the call to a “boy on your family landline.” They agree to their first official date for the following Sunday.
Chapter 24: The Swan Boat Rescue
Cassia takes Marcella’s kids to Echo Park Lake for a swan boat ride and runs into Ellis, who is training his new puppy, Pickle.
Ellis is with a girl named Avery, causing Cassia an immediate, sharp pang of jealousy. Disaster strikes when Mica falls off the boat and cuts his arm; Ellis heroically jumps into the water to rescue him. Ellis remains calm and authoritative, driving them all to the hospital.
Chapter 25: Dumpling Diversion
At the hospital, Mica gets stitches while Ellis watches the kids so Cassia can call a panicked Marcella. Ellis is humble about the rescue, though Cassia is “shaky” and overwhelmed by his presence.
The kids beg Ellis to stay for dinner, and they all go to Din Tai Fung for soup dumplings. Cassia tries to remain neutral, but the “everydayness” of the scene feels like a potential family.
Chapter 26: Yoda and Betrayal
Back at Cassia’s house, Ellis helps with the dishes and shows he is “fully present” with the kids. Cassia finds him “inspiring” but reminds herself that she has a date with Daniel the next day. She forces herself to tell Ellis about the date; he stops looking at her and leaves immediately.
Cassia stays up for hours feeling like a “piece of shit” for driving him to her house and letting him Uber home.
Chapter 27: The Calla Lilies
Daniel arrives for their first date with dark purple calla lilies and a crinkly-eyed smile. They drive to an upscale Korean restaurant, discussing L.A. architecture and their dating histories.
Daniel reveals he shut out his last serious girlfriend because she didn’t understand his grief over his parents. The night ends at Cassia’s porch with a “searching” kiss that feels like the “beginning” of their fated life.
Chapter 28: The Succession
Halmoni officially announces her retirement and names Cassia as the next president of One & Only. The news is marred when Emoni suggests they were waiting for her to find Daniel before making it official.
Cassia feels the gift is now a “duty” or a “burden,” realizing her mother’s rejection of her fate fractured her relationship with Halmoni. The chapter ends with Cassia wishing her family was just “normal.”
Chapter 29: The Salt Room
Daniel and Cassia enter a “fast-forward courtship,” sharing calendars and going on nature hikes. They visit a Korean spa, where they share a meal that reminds Cassia of her past-life vision.
Cassia struggles to stop thinking about Ellis even as she appreciates Daniel’s “steadiness and strength.” They eventually sleep together at Daniel’s house; it feels like a “homecoming,” yet Cassia still has flashes of Ellis.
Chapter 30: Going Viral
Daniel and Cassia integrate into each other’s work lives, with Daniel helping her brainstorm marketing for the agency.
Gemma Flores posts a video endorsing One & Only, causing their Instagram following to quadruple in thirty minutes.
Daniel invites Cassia to an employee’s wedding at the Madonna Inn, noting it’s a “last-minute ask.” Cassia realizes Ellis will be there and tries to draft a warning text but can’t hit send.
Chapter 31: Chaotic Nature
Cassia runs into Ellis at a soft-serve shop while trying to clear her head. Ellis argues that Cassia isn’t really “type A” but is working against her “true quixotic nature.”
She finally tells him about the wedding; Ellis admits it’s “hard” to see her with his boss but respects her choice. That night, Cassia admits her “second thoughts” to Daniel, but he dismisses it as simple “nerves.”
Chapter 32: The Game of Chicken
Daniel and Cassia arrive at the kitschy Madonna Inn and head straight for the pool. They encounter the firm’s employees, including Ellis and Avery.
A game of chicken begins, pitting Cassia/Daniel against Avery/Ellis. Cassia wins but notices Ellis’s disappointment when she plays too aggressively with Avery.
The “embers of resentment” begin to burn as Cassia feels pressured to be there.
Chapter 33: Pink Tennis Courts
At 3:14 a.m., Cassia wakes from a dream about wild horses and walks the hotel grounds. She finds Ellis with Pickle on a hot-pink tennis court; they play “dog tennis” together.
Ellis tells her about the grooms’ dramatic, “imperfect” courtship, which challenges Cassia’s belief that love should be signs and fate. They stay out until dawn, sharing a “thick fog of intimacy” that Cassia finds impossible to ignore.
Chapter 34: Never Have I Ever
Cassia prepares for the wedding in a red satin dress, feeling “come-hither” and competitive. At the reception, the firm plays “Never Have I Ever,” and the group is shocked to learn Ellis was once married.
Cassia and Ellis share a slow dance where they both admit the situation is “shitty” and “inappropriate.” Daniel interrupts them, and Cassia leaves feeling a “worst headache” coming on.
Chapter 35: The Fresh Start
Hungover and emotional, Cassia returns to L.A. and decides she must “excise Ellis” once and for all. She tells Daniel she wants a “big, grand love story” and finally schedules the big Park family dinner.
Marcella warns her that she is putting too much pressure on the dinner to “confirm” her fate. Cassia sits on her porch and wonders if her mother would have liked Daniel—or Ellis.
Chapter 36: The Uncle Bomb
The family dinner begins with Daniel charming everyone, including Cassia’s grandfather, who serves him British beer.
Daniel gives a heartfelt speech about how meeting Cassia made everything in him “still.” However, when Emoni asks about future grandchildren, Daniel admits he wants to be an “incredible uncle, for now.”
The table falls into a deafening silence as the Park family realizes their fated match might not want a family.
Chapter 37: The Flexibility Theory
Cassia vents to Marcella about Daniel’s “pit stains” and his refusal to commit to children. She realizes she didn’t definitively want kids until she met Ellis, further complicating her feelings.
Marcella suggests that maybe Cassia needs to “ignore the fated thing” and decide as a “free-will-having human.” Cassia is left in a “general life panic” as Daniel’s park opening approaches.
Chapter 38: The Adoring Parents
Daniel’s park opening is a massive success, attended by the mayor and the press. Cassia meets Ellis’s parents, Christina and Greg, who are adoring and adoringly proud of him.
Watching Ellis with his family and Marcella’s kids makes Cassia feel “choked up” with a yearning she doesn’t feel with Daniel. She begins to wonder if she wants a “slow, steady burn” or something “electric and unexpected.”
Chapter 39: The Bathroom Kiss
Cassia finds Ellis near a Cassia tree he planted in the park; they discuss his expertise and career ambitions. The nearness becomes unbearable, and they share a primal, “searching” kiss behind the bathroom walls.
Ellis tells her he doesn’t “want to be sorry anymore.” Daniel interrupts them and sees Cassia’s lipstick smeared across Ellis’s face.
Chapter 40: The Macho Losers
Daniel punches Ellis, and the two men engage in a ridiculous and uncoordinated fight in front of the entire crowd. Ellis yells that Daniel is “dating my girlfriend,” and Daniel retorts that “she dumped you.”
In the fallout, Ellis confesses he loves Cassia, but she remains frozen and silent. Ellis walks away, telling her “all of this was a mistake.”
Chapter 41: The Black Thread
Sunny visits Cassia and finally reveals the family’s biggest lie: Cassia’s mother and father were fated matches. Halmoni had tried to “force” the fate on Evette, leading to her rebellion and father’s eventual departure.
Sunny shows Cassia a hidden box containing her parents’ name-slip; the thread is black, indicating a “broken” connection. Cassia realizes her entire worldview was built on a protective lie.
Chapter 42: The Michigan Detour
Reeling from the betrayal, Cassia texts her family to stay away and books a red-eye to Detroit. She drives to Ann Arbor to find her father, Matthew Lee, at his quiet, Colonial home.
She struggles with the question of why she wasn’t “enough” to make a fated match stay. She rings the doorbell, shaking with adrenaline and nerves.
Chapter 43: Meeting Matthew
Matthew answers the door and recognizes Cassia instantly, his expression one of “astonishment.” He invites her in and introduces his childless life with his artist wife, Rachel.
Cassia confronts him about the fated match; Matthew is shocked to learn she was told he wasn’t her mother’s fated. He tells her “there’s so much I don’t think you know.”
Chapter 44: The Best Ending
Matthew recounts meeting Cassia’s mother at art school, her initial “ice-cold” reaction to him, and their “chemistry-forged” relationship.
He admits he left because he was “young and freaked out” and lacked the tools to be a father. He explains that “fated love” was her family’s religion, not his, but that he still loved her mother. Matthew tells Cassia that she was her mother’s “best ending.”
Chapter 45: The Free Will Talk
Cassia returns home and meets Marcella at her new restaurant. She explains that her dad never had other kids and that she feels “betrayed” by her family’s lie.
Marcella argues that fate is just a starting point and that humans must choose to be together. Cassia realizes she has to face her grandparents but has one task to complete first.
Chapter 46: The Final Drive
Cassia meets Daniel for a drive through the Hollywood Hills. They stop at Lake Hollywood, where Daniel admits he felt guilty for “stealing his mate’s girl.”
Daniel confirms he is still “uncertain” about children, while Cassia admits she wants “unknowable chaos.” They share a final, fierce hug and break up, mourning what could have been.
Chapter 47: The Fire
An earthquake hits L.A. in the middle of the night, followed by a security alert from the office. Cassia rushes to Beverly Hills to find the office’s second story engulfed in flames.
She reconciles with her family in the street as they watch their life’s work burn. Cassia sneaks into the charred office and finds her fated-name slip: the thread has turned black.
Chapter 48: The Reckoning
Back at the grandparents’ house, Cassia confronts the family about the lie regarding her parents. Halmoni confesses she lied to “protect” Cassia and because she felt responsible for her daughter’s “sad ending.”
Cassia explains that her mother’s life wasn’t a tragedy and that she felt “lucky” for her family.
The women sit on the floor in a pile of “unburdened souls,” finally finding peace.
Chapter 49: The Confession
Cassia drives to Ellis’s office in her soot-covered pajamas and confesses her love. She shows him the black-threaded name slip and explains the family gift and the “fated” lie.
Ellis is overwhelmed and asks for time to think, leaving Cassia feeling “as foolish as a deluded teenager.” She walks away in tears as he watches her go.
Chapter 50: New Traditions
Weeks pass as Cassia manages the office renovation and works through her despair with Elliott Smith records. She officially takes over as president and renovates the office with blond wood and a “future-facing” design.
She discovers a small bird statue and a plaque dedicated to her mother in the new courtyard. The plaque is placed next to a Feathery Cassia plant.
Chapter 51: The Reunion
At Marcella’s restaurant opening, the Park women surprise Cassia by inviting Ellis. Ellis reveals he started his own firm with Daniel’s blessing and that the Park women were his first clients.
They leave the party and go to the agency’s new garden, where Ellis admits Cassia gave him a “new definition of adulthood.” They declare their love and share a “lost time” kiss under the walnut tree.
Chapter 52: One Year Later
On her next birthday, Cassia is living with Ellis and receives a call from a fertility clinic. They schedule their first egg-implantation appointment, signaling the start of their journey into parenthood.
The Park family, Marcella, and even the office interns gather for a barbecue. Cassia feels her mother’s presence and embraces an “unknowable future” made entirely of her own choices.
Chapter 53: Another Life
A standalone vision depicts a young man in historical Korea who helps a village woman save her linens from a creek.
The woman is married, but an intense connection passes between them as they save each other from the water. He stays behind to finish her laundry, and she looks back at him, acknowledging a bond that transcends their current lives.
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