But there is more to it.
When the mc stays with Bella after the M&J drama unfolds, she has these thoughts while hugging him:
Bella: "(What if James comes home?)"
Bella: "(Would he blame me if I did this?)"
Bella: "(After all this time?)"
Bella: "(I have forgiven him...)"
So she's forgiven
him. What did he do? If she cheated on him, he found out and left, is she forgiving him for leaving a cheating spouse? Nah, there's gotta be more to it.
And who can forget the library scene:
mc: "At the time I couldn't understand Bella."
mc: "The attraction was there, but for her it felt so wrong."
mc: "I remember feeling bad about kissing a married woman."
mc: "I figured she felt the same since she was being unfaithful to her husband..."
mc: "...which, of course, is a very big deal."
mc: "But if I had known the real reasons to her tears..."
mc: "...and to her persona..."
mc: "I wouldn't have kissed her that night."
mc: "I would have called out for help."
By the end of episode 8 she has seemingly come to terms with her relationship with the mc, but nothing has come to pass that warranted the mc's thoughts, "
I would have called out for help."
Other than the opening scene where the mc talks to us directly to set the scene, this is the only other time where he alludes to future events.
Also, his future self is telling us he wouldn't have kissed her that night if he knew what he knows now. By the end of episode 8 we're thinking "Looks like it's turning out OK with Bella" (except perhaps for the Jill bomb), but the mc knows more than that, he knows how it eventuates with Bella, and he's saying he wouldn't have kissed her. Is he saying that because he realises it was selfish to push her at that exact moment, or is it he realises she had serious problems?
If that turns out to be nothing, there will be no defence for the bagging DPC receives.
If the locked room turns out to be a "50 Shades of Grey" BDSM room, it'll be laughable.
All this drama surrounding Bella, the sadness, the distancing, the wrestling with conscience, the ambiguity, and it just ends up she's a dom mistress?
No I think that would be fucking stupid.
There is a tragedy in Bella's past, and it comes from more than just a simple marriage breakup. That room has to be the key.