Ash

Ml deserve better.

Oh, I thought we were on a forum whose entire purpose is to discuss fictional characters. My mistake. You’ve done your civic duty by reporting it.

We’ll be sure to call you next time we need an opinion you can’t even back up, especially if it requires a touch of sarcasm to cosplay as strength.
Dismissed, civilian.

From what, exactly, was her love supposed to be obvious?
From when he confronted her about the disrespect she had shown him, and she responded with a smirk or a kiss on the cheek, ending the conversation so she wouldn’t have to face responsibility for her mistreatment of him.
From the fact that she abandoned him in bed, locked him up, and went to marry another man the very next morning, without any regard for his feelings or even the respect owed to someone whose job were directly connected to that?
Or maybe from the moment he, completely vulnerable, told her that no one loved him, and she said nothing. Instead, she slept with him while already intending to leave the next day.
Or from the fact that she planned to cowardly leave him with a letter the moment he had barely managed to pull himself together, while still in terrible need of support?
If she loved him how could she have slept with him, only to leave whenever it suited her, with no regard for his needs or respect for his choices.

Or in the end, when he asked her to stay, because he needed her, and she broke up with him instead.
If she loved him, she would have respected his decision and waited for him. She could have handled her business and responsibilities without abandoning him at the moment he needed her most. But she break up with him, when he needed her and that was cruel and manipulative, whether love was involved or not. But it is clear there was no love from her.

She manipulated him and forced him into a decision while she made no compromise at all.
And the irony is that she stayed within her own toxic family, slowly becoming more like her grandmother, while lecturing him about not becoming like his father. If she had truly loved him, she would have left with him and built a new family together, one free from the very patterns she condemned.
I think all of her abusive, manipulative, and disrespectful behavior toward a man who gave everything to her makes it very, very, very obvious that she did not love him.

And I don't find manipulation and abuse mature, i find support and respect mature, expecially toward someone loved. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To me, it’s obvious she does not love him. She is simply too cruel to him on too many occasions, right up to the end. But people seem to see something else, so maybe you should try it and see if it’s your kind of thing.

Fun, slightly toxic women? Leaving him after the first time they have sex and locking him in a room to go marry someone else. Smirking at him with a condescending look instead of learning and taking responsibility for mistreating and disrespecting him. Leaving him with a letter even while he was in great need of support and after having sex with him and never responding to his clear declaration of love, . Breaking up with him in the end just to manipulate him and force him into a choice. Is that fun? Slightly toxic?

To each their own, but I will never understand people who are so lenient with abusive behavior when it comes from women, yet see the exact same behavior from men as completely evil. I believe this behavior is deeply toxic no matter who does it, and it is certainly not funny, or light, whichever gender it comes from.

It is a one side love ending. If you like couple ending togheter like this is is happy, otherwise nope.

Good review. There are so many other moments worth highlighting,that show the unfair change, but I understand that going through all of them would take too long. I miss the woman who once treasured the magnolia flower too, and even the one who, after being reprimanded by LJL for her wrong behavior toward him, grew so frustrated that she threw money on the floor. Replacing that natural emotional involvement, which showed care and consideration for his words, with a silent, cruel smirk that dismisses his justified indignation instead. In the end, both characters were ruined.

She didn’t even apologize or admit her mistake after treating him like that after their first time. Strong women are able to recognize and admit when they are wrong.
And she never once told him she loved him, and just as he was barely starting to pull himself together, she wanted to leave him a letter, the most cruel and cowardly way, when things in that house were clearly still a mess. She is a terrible character and an even worse partner. He deserve better.

The best part of the drama is the final arc. The only real issue with it was that it should have been longer to allow for proper and fuller development. The rong family problems became repetitive at a certain point, so starting the ml’s arc halfway through the drama would have worked much better for both story.

I enjoyed the mischievous, brave, and smart ml in the very first part of the drama, but after that I hated the inconsistency throughout the series, with his role as a detective stolen, in the governor case, the yan marriage case, and the drug/assassination case in the Duke’s house. It really made no sense and left the story feeling weak and unnatural.

Still, in the final arc, I loved watching the ml care for his brother, slowly get to know him, and open up by sharing memories. It was so sweet, and so touching the first time he casually called him “brother.” It was so sad to see him look at his nephew, who brought him the cake, and then at his brother while holding that cake and realizing something. It was painful to see how hurt he was while tasting it and talking about his mother. HMH’s micro-expressions are simply phenomenal. I wanted to see so much more of him and the dynamic with his character's brother.

Another fantastic scene was the fight with his father. I can’t believe he was sick while filming that part, he is incredible, and I wanted to see so much more of him.
He deserves far more recognition for all the work he puts in and for his extraordinary skill as an actor. Both his character and he himself deserved so much more than what they got. Far, far better.

P.S.
There is no romance. And it'a a very sad ending.

For me, cold, manipulative, scheming characters who never change and only grow worse toward their partner are never good, but to each their own.
I don’t see any good characterization in this, nor any strength or multi-dimensionality in the exaggeration of negative flaws.

It was entertaining, but it should have started much earlier, possibly halfway through the drama, so it had enough time to properly develop and give us more of it. The rong family storyline even became repetitive after a while, they should have wrapped it up sooner to make room for the duke arc.

She intended to leave him with a letter. That is so cruel and cowardly. If she never wanted to be with him, why wasn’t she clear from the start and say she was there to help, but not to be together?
Instead, she had "fun" with him, and then chose to leave on her own terms, when he still needed her. That is not love. If she loved him, she could have waited for him to solve his family problems as he did for her. But she didn’t. She essentially threatened him and forced him into making a choice, when he could have settled his family matters and then gone to her. Even tho the fact that marrying into her family would always be a disadvantage for him, that’s why, honestly, the only truly happy ending would have been for both of them to leave everything behind and start anew together.

But instead of doing something for him, she tested him again. And once again, he gave more, while she never gave him anything. She use, lies, deceive, kept him in the dark, and made him prove himself again and again for far too long, without any real reason and without ever giving absolutly anything in return.
She never even once told him she loved him, not even when he needed it the most!
This is a one-sided love, and she definitely is unworty of him.

I hate that he will be limited and diminished by the rong family’s rules. Their obvious double standards were never meant to provide a fair starting point for any relationship.
She should have left, but it is clear that she doesn’t love him as much as he loves her, maybe she doesn’t love him at all. That would be totally plausible, given the way she treats him, always keeping him in the dark, even when he’s involved, use and trow him away at her need. Making him do all the emotional labor in their relationship, forcing him to prove himself over and over while she does nothing for him. He deserve so much better, as a person and expecially in love.

She show emotion toward him at the begin. Only for him. Then they turned her in granma-no man is good puppy

I agree. She knew that what he did was important and that he had to save a life. Yet she still forced him to go through that life-threatening proof, as if he had done something wrong, as if he needed to bear someone else’s burden instead.
She becomes stupid when her grandma is involved, and LJL is the one who ends up paying the price.

I don't know how people can see a partner may it be man or woman give up their whole life to persue the other that never even try to do the same, a happy ending.

If you dont want to go with drama logic but real logic you are ruining this whole drama

Well, she was ready to "take" him while still having doubts about him, secretly and creepily spying on him, and asking for sincerity while lying to and deceiving him during that unofficial wedding night.
So I don’t think she would have had any problem warming up to him if she wanted to, nor does she have any right to be cold over what happened at the wedding, which was also partially her fault, and she would have done the same.

They dragged this tea rong family arc way too long, to the point it became boring. And who knows if we’ll ever even see the ml’s arc, and how all his matters will probably be liquidated speed-of-light fast in comparison.
And hate how the ml does everything while the fl nothing. At this point, she should give up the whole rong family to be barely worthy of him.

When granny make her do that totally unfair oat.
Fl knows that it was wrong, and that her family is not always in the right and it is unfair to kill him if he ever decide to act against them for an higher more right reason.
Why didnt she defend him and told her granny how much it was unfair to treat him as his granny trash ex, as she did now in making granny notice her unfairness with the sis?
I have no prob with her coldness, just that she grow b*ll when granny mention the sis but did nothing and say nothing when she want the ml treated so deeply unfairly. Not a word for him.
And then she defie her family for the sis. Al least a word in his favor back then she could have tryed to tell her gram, bc she knew like this she was basically giving up to him, or at least at the strong, clever man she love.