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.

shook me. It felt like something

echoed through the room, filling the silence Gabriel

my heart, every

may have started with revenge, but what

wanted to believe it. I needed to believe

But I was wrong.

didn't cheat. And I knew him well enough to recognize the truth in his

loved

looked at me

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

kind of fierce tenderness I didn't

me truly saw me-in ways no man ever had. He cared for me,

things I didn't even know I needed until I

Cherished me. Made me

loved him could go on

the empty air. My cheeks were soaked, my throat dry and aching, and every

couldn't tell. All I knew was that

want you out of my house-now. Not a second later, or I swear, Clairessa,

His final words.

wasn't scared for my safety-I knew Gabriel would never physically hurt me.

had never seen him like that-so broken, so consumed by

I had

I did this.

had no choice

I had to leave.

and I knew he

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

body sore, but I

at the edge of the bed. He must've left them there for me maybe not realizing

need them

as I fumbled with the buttons of my jeans

slipped on my shoes.

I scanned the room, desperate to

piece of myself Gabriel might hold

found an old notepad in the drawer and

of the bed, a thousand

say to the man

The man you broke?

never look at you the same way

hand trembled

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

for loving you never for that—but for

only real thing

one

-Clairessa

left it

walked out of the

room was quiet. Still. Adrian was gone.

I was sure he

stepped outside and pulled

behind me. The estate

distant

places