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.

sobs shook me. It felt like something inside me had broken beyond

room, filling the silence

my heart, every glimmer of light in my soul -it all belongs

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

needed to believe it. Because if he had betrayed me first, maybe it would make my own guilt

But I was wrong.

well enough to recognize the truth

had ever loved me

looked at me like I

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

with a kind of fierce tenderness I didn't know

me-in ways no man ever had. He

respected me. Gave me the things I didn't

Cherished me. Made me feel like

him could go

the floor, shaking and whispering apologies into the empty air. My cheeks were

knew was that I couldn't breathe without hearing Gabriel's voice echoing in my

my house-now. Not a second later, or I swear, Clairessa, I'll make you

His final words.

Gabriel would never physically hurt me. But the

that-so broken, so consumed by pain and

I had pushed him

I did this.

had no

I had to leave.

me to go, and I knew he meant

and forced myself to stand. My legs

my body sore, but I

at the edge

I'd need

slowly, my fingers numb as I

slipped on my shoes.

I scanned the room, desperate to leave something

of myself Gabriel

an old notepad in the drawer and a pen that barely worked.

a

do you say to the man

The man you broke?

look at you the

hand trembled

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

never for that—but for everything

the only real thing

one day you'll

-Clairessa

the note and left it in the center of

out

room was quiet. Still. Adrian was gone.

I was sure he did that

stepped outside

behind me. The estate was massive-expansive,

that distant

wealthy places