Cruheart

I went back and read it in the novel and part of the scene is actually in one of the main trailers on the IQIY site. It looks almost word for word from the novel. It is this part of the novel

Do you think I’ve lost my mind now? Of course I have. Otherwise, how could I not hold back? I would have. Nie Xiguang, I’ve been holding back all this time. But why did you have to tell me you weren’t together on New Year’s? How am I supposed to accept that?! Why do I always miss my chance? The world isn’t fair to me. You aren’t fair to me.

What does it matter whether you accept it or not?!l

and then the dagger to the heart from the rest of the scene.

So there was never any 'missed chance.' Even if there hadn’t been that misunderstanding on New Year's Day, I would have chosen him. No—it wasn’t even a choice.

Though he had once told me to pick.

Through glistening tears, I curved my lips into a smile. The moment he appeared in my life, the moment he honestly said he liked me, there was no choice to make. I was always going to be with him.

Zhuang Xu seemed stunned, staring at me blankly. I blinked away the tears threatening to spill and turned away decisively without another word.

He is going to keep spiraling. I hope the final reject scene is as good as the one in the novel.

He shows up.

agree

Because he is trash. He was brutal and selfish towards the FL and now when he decides he likes her and she doesnt return his feelings, he blames her for turning him down and becomes a drunken lush stalker. Is that a good enough reason for people to not like him?

the app does not filter searches well. There are things missing from the app that are on the website. such as episode info. It is just easy for me to use when
I am at work etc. I don't really notice a performance issue. I just find it convenient as I stay logged in and get message alerts to my phone.Like I said, I use both.

I use both. The website has more features bit the app is easy to use.

Well it looks like the drama has shifted to the real players now being the adults. They are all using their children as pawns in their chess game while the kiddos shout meaningless threats from their sandboxes. The kids are all being easily manipulated and think they are in control. It is actually quite humorous. I am really liking the HR vs NS battle. And Shaman grandma is right. HR has something NS doesnt have. HR will sacrifice anything or anyone to come out on top. I dont think NS has the stomach to sink as low as HR is willing to sink. This is getting kind of fun.

Agree

So she is a moraly gray character - almost an anti-hero. To be honest, the fact that she actually married him to only get revenge is not an uncommon trope in revenge dramas. Someone always gets hurt.

The difference here is they have made SH look like a nice guy and have not shown his dark side. It has ginned up a lot of sympathy for him - as opposed to the fl and the bastard chairman in the woman who swallowed the sun. Even though he also fell in love with his fake wife. No one cared about his feelings.

I am just interested in how this drama is going to use SH in the end. This drama has been way different than most of the dailys. So I think anything can happen. Personally I hope they take SH down a really dark path and he becomes like his father. I dont want to see him as a sorry sad sack pining for a woman who never loved him.

SH has just been used as a plot tool so far. They have kept him relatively benign. They have given us glimses of whonhe is or he might be but reallly have not truly revealed his character. It looks like they may unwrap the true SH this last part of the drama. I think he will eventually take a ride on the dark path train for a while at least. His redemption arc will probably be more focused on HN thannit will be with JW. Those two were best friends at one time and SH is angry about being betrayed by HN more so than just HN being a simple love rival.

Unfortunately, it looks like show is setting up a redemption arc for Hye-ra and JW to reconcile eventually. I can see them eventually teaming up with HN to take down the chairman et al. We have seen this type of thing in a number of revenge dailys. We have seen daughters reconcile with moms who have done a lot worse. This show is setting up all the framework for it to happen if they choose to go down that path.

Same to you!

Watch her walk away from SH after difficult conversations and watch her walk away from HN after difficult conversations. TWO totally different types of expressions and body language and decompression scenes afterwards- it is clear who she has stronger feelings for - Who she ends up with is a whole other thing entirely.

Yeah, I agree.
That is why I believe she has never loved SH at all. Sure she was attracted to him physically and attracted to his money and what he could do for her. She is no different from her mother in that respect (who I believe has never really loved the chairman - definitely not as much as he loves her).

Her responses to the fake pregnancy and the marriage between SH and YC were very mild in my opinion. She was relatively stoic and her following scenes were not the K-drama staple of tears or pining in regret. They were in fact JW basically categorizing those issues as enemy strategies that needed to be countered.

I think the show was trying show her clearly drawing a line with SH. By his own words what she told him deeply impacted him. Because she didnt throw out a superficial "I love HN" to him she clearly told him exactly what HN is to her. Which was definitely a much stronger connection than "I only loved your money and your abs SH"

The show has done a lot to empasize the depth of the relationship between HN and SW the past few episodes. They have shown a couple of scenes with JW initiating intmate caring touches with HN and have even had a scene with JW and SH where she clearly contrasts her feelings for SH vs her feelings for HN. These scenes are for a reason. Either the show wants us on the MC ship or they are trying to misdirect us.

I like him as well - for all the reasons you stated. And you are spot on about his feelings for JW vs SH. HN actually has a history of caring for JW beyond sleeping with her. SH feelings are so obsessive. What did he share with JW besides their bed? He knew nothing about her real life or her real self. He "fell in love" with a version of YC that JW was playing. SH "fell in love" with someone who does not really exist.

yeah - I just wish that this drama would not have gone this way. It was never going to end well for the 2ml and the show - It was just a miscalculation on their part. They should have gone the C-drama route and given the 2ml and 2fl a separate arc

I get that - I am just saying that show may have wanted to use the archetype to create second lead syndrome buzz and botched it.