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.

floor, trembling as sobs shook me.

through the room, filling the silence Gabriel left

love of my life. Every beat of my heart, every glimmer of light in my

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

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

But I was wrong.

I knew him well enough to recognize the truth

loved

looked at me like I was worth

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

with a kind of fierce tenderness I didn't know

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

the things I didn't even know I needed until

Cherished me. Made me feel like

I loved him could

stayed on the floor, shaking and whispering apologies into the empty air. My cheeks were soaked, my throat dry

hours, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I couldn't breathe without hearing Gabriel's voice

house-now. Not a second later, or

His final words.

would never physically hurt me. But the fury in his voice... that

him like that-so broken, so consumed

had pushed

I did this.

no choice

I had to leave.

to go, and I knew

I wiped my face and forced

body sore,

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

I'd need them

my fingers numb as I

slipped on my shoes.

I scanned the room, desperate to

piece of myself

notepad in the drawer and a pen that barely worked. Sitting

a thousand thoughts

to the man you

The man you broke?

look at you

hand trembled as

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

never

only real thing

hope one day

-Clairessa

left it in the center of the

out of the

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

he did that

outside and

me. The estate was massive-expansive,

that distant way on

wealthy places can