Falling For My Ex's Dad by Oma Green

Chapter 166: Losing The Love Of My Life

Clairessa's POV

As soon as the door slammed shut, it felt like my entire world collapsed.

A sharp, jarring pain tore through my chest, and I clutched at my heart instinctively, as if holding it might stop it from breaking apart.

My legs buckled beneath me, and I crumpled to the floor, gasping for air as a sob ripped from somewhere deep inside me.

I tried to silence it-to swallow the sound-but it was no use. I didn't just cry.

I broke down.

Tears streamed down my face, falling freely onto the wooden floor beneath me.

Gabriel's last words echoed in my head again and again, each repetition cutting deeper into my already shattered heart.

"We're done. Nothing is ever going to happen between us again."

But it wasn't just the words.

It was the look in his eyes.

A look that will haunt me forever.

Disgust.

Disdain.

Like I was a mistake—a betrayal he regretted ever letting into his life.

And what hurt the most wasn't just losing him... it was knowing that someone who once loved me so deeply, so fiercely, could now look at me like I was the most vile thing he'd ever seen.

And the worst part?

I had no one to blame but myself.

I did this.

My mind flashed back to that day when Adrian kept calling and I lied.

Gabriel had every reason to doubt me, but he chose to trust me anyway. He asked me begged me-not to hurt him.

He opened up about his past, his trauma. He let me in.

And I still lied.

One lie turned into two, then three, until I was drowning in them—and pulling him under with me.

He gave me his heart, his fears, his history. I knew how deep his scars ran, how much pain he carried... and I still chose to lie.

I destroyed what we had.

And it broke me in ways I never imagined. I did the one thing I swore I wouldn't—I reopened wounds he trusted me to protect. I was supposed to be different. Safe. Honest.

I wept so hard, it felt like my lungs might give out.

Because I hadn't just lost a man.

I'd lost the man.

as sobs shook me. It

echoed through the room, filling the silence Gabriel

is the love of my life. Every beat of my heart, every glimmer

may have started with revenge, but what came after... that was real. So real it

it. I needed to believe it. Because if he had betrayed me first,

But I was wrong.

And I knew him well enough to recognize

ever loved

one had ever looked at me like I was

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

loved with a kind of

saw me truly saw me-in ways no man ever had.

me. Gave me the things I didn't even know

me. Made me

loved him could go

empty air. My cheeks were soaked, my throat dry and aching, and every breath felt like it tore

away-minutes, maybe hours, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I couldn't breathe without hearing

second later, or I swear, Clairessa, I'll make you

His final words.

safety-I knew Gabriel would never physically hurt me. But the fury in his voice...

that-so broken, so consumed by pain

had

I did this.

had no choice

I had to leave.

go, and I

hands, I wiped my face and forced myself to stand. My legs

my body sore,

folded neatly at the edge of the bed. He must've

I'd need them

changed slowly, my fingers numb as I fumbled with the buttons

slipped on my shoes.

dressed, I scanned the room, desperate to leave

myself

in the drawer and a

bed, a thousand thoughts flooded

say to the man you

The man you broke?

man who may never look at

hand trembled

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

for loving you never for that—but for everything

real thing

hope one day

-Clairessa

left it in

out of

room was quiet. Still. Adrian was gone. Gabriel, nowhere to

was sure he did that

stepped outside and

The estate was

distant way

wealthy places can