I'll remind you and everyone else that you literally asked for it.
First some words on pacing. One of BADIK's strong points is variety. Not only in how different the girls are, but how different the relationships are. Jill's relationship with the MC is in a lot of ways behind the other paths, but it doesn't actually evolve much slower, but rather starts at a very low level. The other paths have something of head start on her. Jill is sheltered, shy and inexperienced, so she starts from a place where a kiss is a very big deal. Sage on the other hand is getting out of a relationship and emotionally rebounding (I know what she says about it and I disagree with her), so she is in an emotional place where she craves the kind of things that would scare the hell out of Jill.
So where is Bella at emotionally? Her husband went missing three years ago and might be dead. We do not know the details of this, but if he is alive he has effectively abandoned Bella. Her marriage has fallen apart, but she isn't ready to admit that to herself. She fears that what ever her life will be the romance part is over. From this and various other details you can see that in spite of her excellent poker face, Bella's emotions are actually very strong. There is the intense make out session at the library, when her mask cracks and the warring emotions bring her to tears. There is the moment after helping the MC clean his room and fooling around with him, when she lies on the mattress next to him and the seriousness of what just happened hits her.
Bella has strong opinions on cheating. Why this is I'd like to know and hope to learn in the next episode, but for now it is enough that we know this for a fact. Her head tells her that everything she does with the MC should feel wrong, but what she does feel is that "for the first time in a long time she can breathe again". She is realising that in her heart she is no longer married to James and is falling in love with the MC.
It took her three years to move on. When this woman loves, it BIG.
But then the other girls have some serious strengths too, what makes Bella better than them? Well if you play seasons 1 and 2 with the aim of building the main girl harem you'll notice that all paths have these pull-in and push-away moments. With all the others they push you away because they aren't sure of their own feelings. Bella knows what she feels. Her struggle is constantly about whether those feelings are forbidden or not. She sees some very real obstacles to their relationship. The two are student and teacher. There is an age gap. She is still married legally. There is Jill. Bella sees all these challenges and is ready to face them with him. She takes the relationship way more seriously than any other girl in the game.
What else do I love about Bella? The humour. Another thing Bella hides behind her poker face is a sense of humour I absolutely adore. She jokes on the MC's expense and he has to stay sharp to catch her. Her cheating at Go Strip is one of my favourite parts in the whole game. But the tables do turn sometimes. If you play the doubles tennis match fair and square, Bella sends a ball at Tybalt's face when he ogles Jill. She is adorably ashamed of it later and they have a moment of being equals in spite of the age gap. Bella is older than the MC and he has to show her that he can match her mental maturity, but when he does she appreciates it. Like "let's watch anal porn together" appreciates it. And speaking of that Bella and beer pong was my favourite part of episode 10. Not the mini-game, but her attitude towards it.
"If you didn't play beer pong at college, you didn't go to college." - Isabella Roberts
What do I expect from future episodes? James will turn up at some point. Either alive or as what remains of him. He might first turn up as fake remains and later turns out to be alive. There are a lot of potential scenarios for this. What else? Bella is in her mid to late thirties. How loud is the biological clock ticking? In general I expect BADIK to have bad ends as well as good ends and history repeating itself and the chosen girl dying at childbirth is too obvious to exclude, so pregnancy is practically guaranteed and Bella is the most likely to have that story line. I will play that for the sake of completion and I expect to cry my eyes out. On a lighter note a moment I hope an pray for is the MC realising that calling Bella "beautiful" is a pun. It'd be so hilarious.
And I think I'm done here, but I remind you all again that I was asked.
