Vicious

He drove her out of town once. Now he’s back with a job offer she can hardly afford to turn down. Vicious, inspired by the novel by L.J. Shen, takes the bully-romance premise and builds a tense, high-stakes workplace reunion around it.

The Story

Years ago, Vicious bullied Emilia until she left town. When he reappears, he comes with an offer that could keep her afloat: a job she can’t easily refuse. Money matters to her, and that leaves her with a hard choice about taking help from the person who hurt her.

Vicious is not a simple villain, though. He is haunted by a past of abuse, and the series sets that against Emilia’s own history with him. Trusting him could pull her back into the world that once broke her. The question driving the story is whether she can let herself fall for him anyway.

Why It Works

The premise sets up friction from the first moment. The two leads share a painful history, an uneven power dynamic and a reason to stay in the same room. The workplace setting keeps them in constant contact, which suits a vertical format where every episode needs a charge of tension.

The cast includes Jenna Gilmer, Cameron Porras, Alexa Najera and Ben Ubinas. The story leans on emotional push and pull rather than quiet slow-burn, so expect intensity, misread signals and a love-hate dynamic that keeps the stakes personal.

Themes & Tropes

• Enemies to lovers: a love-hate pairing with a bullying past at its center.
• Reunion years later: old wounds resurface when two people meet again in very different circumstances.
• Office romance: a billionaire boss, an employee who needs the work, and blurred professional lines.
• Misunderstandings: mixed signals and assumptions complicate every step toward trust.
• Damaged hero: his history of abuse adds a layer of vulnerability beneath the hard exterior.

Who Should Watch

Fans of CEO and billionaire romances who like their leads at odds will find plenty here, especially readers of bully-romance novels. If you enjoy intense chemistry, emotional baggage and the question of whether someone who caused pain can earn a second chance, this is worth a look. Viewers who prefer gentle, low-conflict love stories may find the tone heavier than they want.

Quick Facts

• Genre: CEO & Billionaire, Romance
• Episodes: Multiple
• Format: Vertical short drama
• Where to watch: First episodes free on MovieDrama, full series on ReelShort