The show really leaned into the FL’s “family” being trash - forced confinement, poisonings, murder for hire, verbal abuse etc. At times it was completely over the top as was the way in which the FL ended up being raised by them. Though this is a fictitious story, it was hard to suspend disbelief surrounding how she ended up in that household due to the extreme contrivances and coincidences.

Many of the characters in this were as dumb as a box of rocks. The FL was pretty dense to start, but thankfully she wised up after literally getting a new lease on life. But her ex fiancé was probably one of the stupidest characters I’ve seen in a while. He repeatedly made incredibly imbecilic decisions and was just…argh. It didn’t help that the actor in the role wasn’t that good. He only had two facial expressions, mindless stare into nothingness or mouth hanging open with a painful frown which I guess was supposed to convey shock and horror. He was awful.

The FL’s father was not only a horrible person, but he was pretty dense too considering he couldn’t see that his wife was a sociopath despite her repeatedly deceitful and abusive behaviors. The ML’s half brother also wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but in hindsight I found nothing about that character made any sense. He was in the story purely for plot.

The revenge plot was okay, but I’ve seen better. The setup and execution lacked punch because the audience was oftentimes completely in the dark about what the FL was planning to do and the story didn’t build. It just moved along at an even pace. As a result, when the villains were finally taken down it was anti-climatic. Moreover, after everything the FL went through, I didn’t think it was realistic that she’d ever forgive her father. He allowed her to be abused in his household for years and did nothing about it. In the end, he didn’t deserve to be in her life or to walk away virtually unscathed.

The love story was a little ridiculous, but what else is new. The ML fell in love with a painting by the FL. Watched her from afar which led to him falling deeply in love with her. It can’t get anymore preposterous than this. But…the leads had really good chemistry, which made me a believer in their love. I would’ve liked to have seen more push/pull in their relationship before they got together. More close moments in the house they shared and a little more to their “honeymoon” would’ve been nice too. Though the revenge plot was lackluster I will admit I had a good laugh when the dumb ex boyfriend marriage plans got ruined when the FL’s stepsister showed up on his doorstep 9 months pregnant, declaring him as the baby’s father. He fought so hard and did so many utterly dumb and despicable things to please her and be with her. He finally got the spoiled insufferable brat just when he thought he’d moved on from her to greener pastures. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.

Overall, this was entertaining enough to see it through to the end, but it wasn’t as well executed as it could’ve been.