Tengoku e no Kaidan (2002) [Ep 1 – 12 END]

Title: 天国への階段
Title (romaji): Tengoku e no Kaidan
Also known as: Stairway to Heaven

Format: Renzoku
Genre: Human drama
Episodes: 12
Viewership ratings: 7.1
Broadcast network: NTV
Broadcast period: 2002-Apr-08 to 2002-Jun-24

Synopsis:
A past he wants to take back. A past that will never go away. Twenty-seven years ago Keiichi Kashiwagi lost his father to suicide after the rich and powerful Esei Group took over the family ranch, and Keiichi’s beloved Akiko married into the Esei family. Keiichi then swore he would have his revenge. Now, Keiichi is head of his own corporation and running for office in the same electorate as Tatsuya Esei, the man who took Akiko from him long ago. Having fallen on hard times, Tatsuya is trying to marry his daughter Matsue into another rich corporate family, but Akiko remembers her own loveless marriage with remorse and refuses to have her daughter share the same fate. In the middle of this, Keiichi’s past rears its ugly head, leading to murder and blackmail. Betrayal and revenge are tempered with the tenderness of love in this gripping suspense.