beta
I think this story has lots of potential and maybe it differs from the novel (haven't read), but it just feels like all the character introductions are rushed and half-assed. They're building up Gilbert to be this big bad whom the MC absolutely despises but instead of showing all the shitty things he's done, they just tell us, and it makes the MC's treatment of him feel less justified.
Also, the story starts in the middle which is such an odd choice because it means they have to keep doing exposition to explain what tf is going on. The MC's family was in debt and she had to work her ass off to be pay it back and become a socialite, is there going to be an arc about that? No? Just a couple panels? Okay. The MC has the villainess humping her leg like a chihuahua, gonna show us how this happened? No? Okay.
This story is just really off to a bad start in terms of quality—but maybe it settles a bit more in the middle? Also, if Gilbert is such a bad person and the ML is his father, wouldn't that be reflective of the ML given that he raised him??? Idk, it seems like the villainess' future actions against the MC (tormenting her, faking friendship, and sleeping with her husband) was brushed off on the basis of girl power rather than Gilbert's manipulation, because you could argue that Gilbert is as much a victim of his father as the villainess is to him? Not saying thats justified, don't mean to Gilbert glaze as he is genuinely unpleasant. But the story does a poor job of differentiating why the villainess gets preferential treatment, because it seems her og self geniuinely liked tormenting the MC similarly to Gilbert.
Or are there other circumstances regarding their relationship? Like Gilbert getting adopted later in life like when he was already an adult? Regardless, it doesn't seem like him and the ML have an amicable relationship. Either way the pacing sucks and the characters feel shallow, sorry thats my yap (￣∇￣")