Rebound Rules: Never Fall for the Rebounder

Right before senior finals, Louise Ackman, the most sought-after heiress in Harland City's elite circles, got dumped out of nowhere by the school heartthrob, Paul Brennan. Chewing on a plain bread roll, I sidled up to her while she sat there, too heartbroken to study. "I look just like Paul. How about I ask you out instead?" She was quiet for a moment. Then she fastened the couples' bracelet she'd meant to give Paul around my wrist. With a clear conscience, I milked her for money, asking for a million dollars every month. She never argued. She just wired me two million. After we married, I gave her four nights a week, punctual to the minute and attentive to her every need. Everyone said Louise had found true love. Until the day my assistant pulled me aside and whispered, "You know that new executive assistant working for Ms. Ackman? Word is he was the school heartthrob back in the day. "Sir, Ms. Ackman seems to really like him. She even gave him your favorite private lounge..." Chapter 1 I went after Louise Ackman for one reason: her money. She was a hopeless romantic, the kind of girl who happily spent money on her boyfriend. Back when I was so hungry I was gnawing on plain bread rolls, the thing I envied most was the school heartthrob, Paul Brennan, who wore a two-million-dollar watch before he'd even graduated. What I couldn't understand was why he'd throw away a rich girl like Louise just to run off with that scholarship girl. So when Paul slapped Louise across the face and turned to walk away, I blocked his path at the classroom door. "You two really broke up?" He gave my worn-through school uniform a look of contempt and shook my hand off in disgust. "Yeah." "Then can I ask her out?" He looked my ragged clothes up and down and couldn't hold back a laugh. "Sure, go for it. If you actually land her, I'll give you this watch." I stared at the two-million-dollar watch Louise had given him and nodded. But at our class party after senior finals, the moment he saw Louise walk in with her arm hooked through mine, his smile froze. While Louise was in the restroom, he requested a song for me. When the lyrics hit the words "cheating lowlife," the whole room went quiet, and every head turned toward me. "Tiger Ford, you're a bastard." Paul sneered at me. I knew exactly what Louise saw me as. Even so, I opened a bottle of liquor and poured the whole thing over Paul's head. Then, while I was at it, I helped myself to his watch. "A bet's a bet. If you didn't want me going after her, you shouldn't have gotten engaged to that scholarship girl." "Tiger!" Paul roared and lunged at me, but someone threw herself in front of me. Louise took the slap for me. She dragged me out of the bar and didn't say a single word all night. I figured it still hurt her, deep down. And I knew exactly where I stood. I quietly followed Paul's Instagram. Every time he posted a new outfit, I bought the exact same one and wore it on our next scheduled night together as husband and wife. Every time she saw me dressed like Paul, there was something in her eyes I couldn't quite read. I knew she secretly followed him too. Every time she looked at me, it was like she was looking at the man she used to love. My best friend, Joel Cooper, thought it was unfair to me. I was her husband, for crying out loud. But I thought it was fine. Every month I asked for a million, and she wired me two. I upped the ante and asked for three. She sent me five. So what if there was no love? With a life like that, who cared? I was born into a family with no love and no money. The moment any chance to make money showed up, I'd throw myself at it, shame be damned. While Louise was still interested in me, of course I was going to do my job and do it well. On our first wedding anniversary, Paul posted a new update on Instagram. He'd gotten a skull tattooed on his neck. The pain had me grinding my teeth so hard I thought they'd crack, but after ten hours, I finally had a matching skull on my own neck. When Louise came out of the shower and saw the tattoo peeking out from the collar of my purple shirt, the hand toweling her hair went still. "What? Doesn't it look good?" "Don't do that again." She didn't seem the least bit interested in my skull. "And get rid of all your purple clothes." Chapter 2 My heart sank. Purple was Paul's favorite color. Was she tired of me imitating the one that got away? Looked like my job as a stand-in was over. "What I mean is, it hurts." She flicked my forehead. "Even if you stop imitating him, I'll still give you plenty of money." The next day, the housekeeper cleared out every piece of purple clothing I owned. Truth was, I'd never liked purple anyway. She filled my closet with black clothes instead. I ran my fingers over the fine, expertly tailored fabric. So Louise knew I liked black? But if I wasn't imitating Paul, what was going to happen to my job as a stand-in? So, testing the waters, I asked Louise for eight million. She gave me an unlimited black card. A custom his-and-hers edition. While Joel and I were wandering around a car show, he asked out of curiosity, "Didn't you say you'd do five years, then grab the cash and run? It's almost been five years. When are you planning to get divorced?" I stared at the baby clothes in a shop window and fell deep into thought. I'd been Louise's stand-in for five years. So I didn't know what loving someone was supposed to look like. All I remembered was the happiest thing my mom ever did for me, back before she ran off with some other guy: she made me a little rabbit out of foxtail grass. I got some yarn and tried knitting a rabbit of my own. The tools pricked my hands until they were covered in bloody holes. I botched a few ugly ones before I finally got it right. But it seemed Louise didn't need it anymore. Because tonight was one of our nights, and she was already half an hour late. I waited on the sofa until I dozed off. In the end, it was her kisses that woke me. "Sorry, our partners added some last-minute terms. I got held up." Louise was sitting on my lap, her arms around my neck, kissing me like she'd lost herself in it. For the first time, I pushed her away. "When are you planning to divorce me?" Her breath caught. "What are you talking about?" I looked at her. "I know he's back. You even gave him my favorite lounge. I checked. My access to that lounge has been revoked." She went rigid. "Don't overthink this, Louise. I won't cling to you, and I won't ask for much of a breakup payout. Just give me..." She'd already picked up her phone, and her voice was colder than I'd ever heard it. "Executive assistant? What executive assistant? "And what's this about the lounge? "Since when does my husband's access get revoked without my approval?" On the other end of the line, the head of HR's voice trembled. "Ms. Ackman, he showed us photos of you two from when you were dating. He said Mr. Ford had stolen his girlfriend... "Mr. Ford really does look a lot like Mr. Brennan, and those photos really were of you. We thought it was what you wanted..." Louise's expression was frighteningly cold. "Blacklist Paul Brennan across the entire industry. I want Tiger Ford's access to the lounge restored within the hour. And you can go collect your final paycheck from accounting." The head of HR tried to explain, but Louise had already hung up. I stared at her in shock. She turned and threw her arms around me, pressing hard kisses to my lips. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I haven't been at headquarters these past few days..." That part, I believed. She was always flying back and forth, all over the country and overseas. But no matter how far away she was, she never once missed one of our four nights a week. Still not quite sure, I pressed my hands firmly against her waist. "Blacklisting the one that got away? Aren't you worried you'll break his heart?" "What one that got away?" She kissed me until I was breathless. "You're the only one I have." "Is that a confession?" "Yes." "Then, Louise..." I leaned down and kissed her lips. "What am I to you?" She paused, then kissed me back even harder. "My husband... My dearest husband..." My whole body trembled. "Then from now on, I'm really going to start acting like one." "That's how it should've been all along." That night, with my hands locked on her waist, neither of us slept a wink. Chapter 3 My knitting skills had improved. I'd unraveled the first rabbit and remade it into a bigger, cuter one. But then, Joel sent me a video. In it, Louise had just wrapped up a business deal at the manor in Leoni City. Holding a black umbrella, she walked past Paul. Ever since he'd been blacklisted, he had nowhere to go. He couldn't even make rent. He was soaked to the skin, his purple shirt clinging to him and outlining every attractive curve. Tears in his eyes, he gazed at her in the wind. "Louise..." Paul's voice trembled. Louise's steps faltered for a split second. Then she walked right past him without looking back. "Louise! Have you forgotten everything we had?" No matter how many times Paul called out to her, Louise never turned around. I let out a breath of relief. Looked like she knew her place. What I hadn't expected was how determined Paul was. The rainstorm raged all night. And he stood outside her building all night… until he collapsed on the ground. A black umbrella came into view on the screen. Paul forced his eyes open and looked up at the person under it. Louise was completely dry, her cold, pale face giving nothing away. But that umbrella tilted gently toward Paul. The next day, Louise flew back to Harland City as planned. Only, she'd given the manor to Paul. "Tiger, what do we do? Louise only ever spends money on her own man!" I thought it over for a moment. "Since she sees me as her husband, I'll just have to handle this the way her husband would." That same day, Paul was thrown out of the manor. And that same day, Louise didn't come home. It was the first time since our wedding that she'd missed one of our nights. I called more than a dozen times. She didn't pick up. The next day, she came home exhausted, her eyes bloodshot. "Did you have Paul kicked out?" I didn't dodge the question. "Yes." "Who said you could throw a tantrum like this?" The accusation in her voice stunned me. I looked up. "So what you're saying is, as your husband, I'm supposed to put up with your ex-boyfriend living in our property?" Louise didn't say anything. She just frowned and tossed me her phone with a video playing. In the footage, a dozen men dragged Paul into an alley. Every one of his fingers had been broken, and his mouth was bloody from the beating. Louise's voice shook. "If I hadn't gotten there in time, Paul would've thrown himself into the river by now!" I watched the video coldly. "What do you want me to do?" "Go to the hospital and apologize to Paul." "Louise." I pushed the phone back to her. "I'm not apologizing to a homewrecker." "A homewrecker?" She clearly hadn't expected me to use that word. A mocking smile I'd never seen before tugged at her lips. "If we're being honest, aren't you the real homewrecker?" My breath caught. She ignored my shock, turned, and walked out. For the first time, she slammed the door behind her. I sat alone on the sofa until late into the night. My phone kept buzzing with messages from friends. [Tiger! What's going on? Louise's stopped doing business and is spending all her time at the hospital with another man?] [They're saying he's Louise's first love. That's not true, is it?] [Tiger, get to the hospital now! Your wife's about to become someone else's!] I didn't answer any of them. Instead, I packed my bags and waited for Louise to come home three days later. She took one look at my suitcase and gave a soft laugh. "What's this? Running away from home?" I handed her the divorce agreement. "Let's get divorced. I don't want a payout." The hand holding her teacup froze. Her expression turned grave as she leafed through the agreement page by page. Her hand was trembling slightly. "If we divorce, who's going to give you all that money?" "Thank you, Ms. Ackman, but I won't starve." She paused. "Fine, we can divorce. But you'll have to pay back every cent I've spent on you." I froze. In five years as her stand-in, I'd spent a fair amount of the money I got. Seeing me freeze, Louise's smile relaxed a little. Chapter 4 Louise said, "It's fine if you can't pay it back. As long as we don't divorce..." "Done," I replied. She blinked. Money had never made me feel secure. No matter how much came in, I never dared spend it freely. Even with nine figures in my account, whenever Louise wasn't home, I still lived on boxed mac and cheese with fries. Five years, hundreds of millions in income, and two million spent. I handed over my bank card, then patted myself down and took off the two-million-dollar watch. That covered exactly what I'd spent. "I won this watch off Paul in a bet, so it's mine. Here. Now we're square." I took Louise's hand and set the watch in her palm. The instant I turned to leave, she tossed the watch aside and grabbed my hand. "Don't go! I don't really want you to pay me back!" The famously silver-tongued Ms. Ackman was actually at a loss for words. "Louise, don't try to stop me..." I turned around impatiently, but the moment I saw her face, I fell silent. A tear splashed onto the back of my hand. I couldn't believe it. "You're... crying?" "I'm sorry." She looked at me, her eyes red. "Don't do this to me." I'd never seen a woman like her shed a single tear. If anyone caught this on camera, Ackman Group's stock price would probably take a hit. So I sat down and let her explain everything. Only then did I learn she hadn't been at the hospital at all these past few days. She'd had her friend send me those provoking messages because she thought I was the one who'd arranged for those men to attack Paul. She couldn't accept me doing something like that. I could throw him out, but I couldn't ruin him completely, let alone have a gang of men humiliate another man like that. Still, she'd taken Paul to the hospital and gone to see him often because she didn't want me to get sued. "Calling you a homewrecker was just me lashing out in anger. I'm sorry." Louise's eyes were red. I was silent for a moment. "Louise, you really hurt me this time." Pain flashed in her eyes. "But I'll give you one chance." Her eyes lit up. "Louise, I want you to cut off all contact with Paul. Send him away. Far, far away." "Okay..." She gripped my hand like she'd just recovered a treasure she thought she'd lost forever. "I promise." Louise kept her word. The very next day, Paul was shipped overseas to the same country where his ex-girlfriend happened to be backpacking on a shoestring. Louise seemed unable to get past the fact that she'd hurt me. One of her confidants secretly tipped me off. At this weekend's press conference, Ms. Ackman was going to publicly announce her other half. Louise and I had married in secret. As her stand-in, I'd never seen anything wrong with that decision. But now, I was looking forward to this announcement more than I could say. All week, on our nights together, she was more insatiable than ever. Afterward, she'd press herself tight against my chest. "There's a press conference this weekend. I want you there with me." I smiled and pretended I didn't know a thing. "Okay." That weekend, I arrived as promised. Louise's executive assistant led me to the seat of honor, right where the spotlight would land on me. Reporters had already hoisted their cameras and microphones. Everyone wanted to know who the husband Ms. Ackman had kept so carefully hidden all these years really was. Her assistant handed me a bouquet of roses. Bulgarian red roses, my favorite. Dew still clung to the petals. They'd clearly been flown in. With everyone waiting eagerly, Louise finally arrived, fashionably late. Standing below the stage, I watched Louise's gaze land on me, and a faint, suggestive smile curved her lips. Still looking at me, she pulled the microphone closer. "My other half is the boy I fell for at first sight in high school." At first sight? I was stunned. The curtain drew back. The roses were taken from my hands and passed to another man. "He's my first love, Paul Brennan."