All about How to Love Again: Storyline Breakdown, Characters Introduction and Hottest Episodes Analysis

Everyone in the world attaches great importance to the kinship. However, in Anya’s family, things were different. After her father’s comrade’s daughter Olivia came home, her parents’ attitude to her shifted. All the love she enjoyed before was transferred to Olivia. 

What’s more, Olivia was a cunning girl. She was good at using her pitiful look to earn her parents’ love. Anya knew her true face but her parents were always cheated. When Anya wanted to expose her nature, her family only thought she had mental illness and sent her to a hospital where she lost her life. 

At the soul shop, Anya begged for a second life with her ability to love. Without that ability, what will Anya’s next life be like? Let’s have a look at How to Love Again.

Part one: How to Love Again storyline breakdown
Part two: How to Love Again main characters
Part three: How to Love Again hottest episodes
Part four: Conclusion

Part one: How to Love Again storyline breakdown

How to Love Again is a 42-episode modern short drama set in elite families. It tells a story that Anya exchanged a second life with her emotions and ability to love after she died unloved. 

James and Anya were twins. For their first twelve years, they were the only kids in the family. Everyone loved them. The family spoiled them rotten. James was only two hours older than her but he always looked out for her and let her have her way. He turned her into a real-life princess. 

Her father also said that Anya wasn’t grown to be married off. She can stay home her whole life. He can provide for her. Her father spoiled her even more after that.  A bracelet worth millions was just another birthday gift for her. It was also the last birthday gift she ever received. When she turned twelve, her father’s old army buddy passed away. On his deathbed, he left his daughter in his father’s care. That girl, Olivia Fairfax, became her sister in name only. All the love and trust from her family slowly faded away. 

Anya hated and envied the girl because she grabbed the family’s love away. She’d shed a few tears and the whole family would panic over her. She was jealous that she stole everything she had. Olivia even lived in her room. She grew more paranoid, more short-tempered and more unstable. Then, finally, on her 18th birthday, she saw Olivia with her fiancé, Kieran, kissing in the garden. 

She lost it in the next day. She shouted at her whole family how they could do this to her. But no one realized their change. Kieran even said Anya looked crazy. She laughed till she cried. The ache in her chest had her shaking. She lunged at Olivia with a knife. But James knocked her to the ground. They all rushed to shield Olivia, begging her not to cry. Nobody cared about Anya. They didn’t even notice that the knife she held was just a plastic cake knife. 

Her parents said she was mentally ill and locked her in an asylum. James must have kicked her pretty hard. It made her cough up blood day and night. Anya begged the nurse to call her parents. But her parents never picked up. After one last round of shock treatment, she finally died. And she found herself at the Soul Shop. The fortune teller in the shop saw Anya broken and covered in despair. At the shop, Anya traded every emotion and her ability to love for one shot at rebirth. When Anya was reborn, what will she do? Let’s continue to read or watch How to Love Again directly on ShortMax. 

Part two: How to Love Again main characters

Anya Fairfax

Anya was once the cherished daughter of heaven, doted upon by her family. As the only daughter in the household, she enjoyed twelve years of absolute indulgence: her father promised to support her for life, her twin brother James catered to every whim, and a million-dollar bracelet was merely an ordinary birthday gift. 

But everything collapsed with the arrival of the adopted daughter, Olivia. Watching helplessly as her family's affection was stolen, her room taken over, and even her fiancé betraying her with Olivia, Anaya lost control on her eighteenth birthday when she caught them together. In a fit of rage, she lunged at Olivia with a knife, actually just a plastic cake knife, but was beaten down by her brother. 

Ultimately, her parents had her committed to a psychiatric hospital under the diagnosis of "mental illness," where she died in agony from electroshock therapy. After her rebirth, Anya awoke completely. She no longer craved her family's love, instead calmly gathering all her jewelry to guard against Olivia's greed. 

Olivia Fairfax

Olivia was the orphan of Anya’s father’s comrade. When she was twelve years old, she was entrusted to the Fairfax family. On the surface, she appeared to be a pitiful orphan, but in reality, she was very cunning. When she first arrived, she occupied Anya's seat and bedroom, using tears to win the sympathy of the entire family. 

She gradually undermined Anya's original position. She was best at using retreat to achieve advancement. Even though it was she who secretly wore Anya's jewels, she could cry until she suffocated when exposed, making James turn against Anya instead. Olivia's gentleness is her weapon, and her tears are her tactics. In the presence of Anya, she would show a smug smirk; in front of the parents, she would always be the innocent victim. 

Part three: How to Love Again hottest episodes

Episode four

When Anya was reborn, she went back to the day when Olivia came to their family. Her parents asked her to accompany Olivia to hang out. Anya refused and went into her room. They blamed Anya’s inconsideration. Anya just got to her feet and took inventory. She couldn’t remember what she had at twelve. She was stunned the jewelry on her dresser. At that time, she realized that no wonder Olivia loved stealing her stuff. Even her grown-up self was a little jealous. 

Then, she grabbed all the jewelry into the schoolbag. If she didn’t do this now, Olivia would find some excuse to take it. She looked at a flawless bracelet in her hand. She remembered how Olivia had smashed it in her past life. That was the first time she ever slapped Olivia. She burst into tears and kept saying sorry, which brought their mother, father and brother running. 

It was the first time she ever snapped. Olivia clung to her mother’s legs, crying herself sick. Yet she still managed to smirk at her. James pushed Anya and scolded her. Anya clenched her jaw and held back her tears. Actually, the bracelet was bought by James, which meant a lot to Anya. 

From that year on, Anya never got another birthday gift. Even the usual flood of toys sent to her room, clothes, and jewelry were rerouted to Olivia’s room. All because of what Olivia said. She told the parents that kids at school had mocked her. But things were different. James was the one who helped her turn the whole class against Anya. James knew everything but he never stood up for her. Anya watched her parents grow disappointed in her and always took the side of that poor foster girl. 

Episode five

Once Anya had packed everything up, a soft knock came at her door. It was her mother. She said the dinner was ready. Anya didn’t say anything. She just opened the door and let her mother lead her out. Her usual seat was taken. Olivia sat there, looking uneasy. Anya said to her mother that she would just on the floor. Everyone was shocked to hear that. 

Her mother let Olivia stand up and leave the chair for Anya. When Olivia stood up, James pressed her down. He asked Anya to sit beside him. Her parents only stared at her. Anya knew that the whole family was putting on a show and their acting was god-awful. It made her sick. 

The whole dinner dragged on in tense silence. And it was over. When she got up to leave, her father stopped her. He said that Olivia was a year younger than her and her brother and she lost her parents. He hoped that Anya could play with her. 

Her parents shot each other with frantic looks across the table. Neither wanted to say what came next. When Anya asked so, that caught her mother off guard. She fumbled for words. At that moment, her father asked Anya’s permission to company Olivia at school. 

Part four: Conclusion

As the title How to Love Again presents, how will Anya who had been hurt by her family love again in the next life? Facing her family's hypocritical favoritism toward the adopted daughter, Anya chose silence and emotional distance as her weapons. The girl who once went mad for love was gone replaced by a heart frozen in ice. She returned to the age of twelve, determined to rewrite her fate and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

If you are interested in this modern elite family drama, you can find its full episodes on ShortMax.