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.

on the floor, trembling as sobs shook me. It felt like something inside me

cries echoed through the room, filling the silence

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

had may have started with revenge, but what came

when I caught him in bed with Nicole... deep down, I wanted to believe it. I needed to believe it. Because if he had betrayed me

But I was wrong.

cheat. And I knew him well enough to

had ever loved me

looked at me like I was worth

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

kind of fierce tenderness I didn't know

ways no man ever had.

things I didn't even know I

Cherished me. Made me

I loved him could go

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

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

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

His final words.

Gabriel would never physically hurt me. But

like that-so

I had pushed him

I did this.

no

I had to leave.

me to go, and I knew he meant

hands, I wiped my face and forced myself to

body sore,

neatly at the edge of the bed. He must've left them there for

need

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

slipped on my shoes.

the room, desperate to

myself Gabriel might

found an old notepad in the drawer and a pen that

a thousand thoughts flooded my

to the man you

The man you broke?

never look at

hand trembled as

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

you never for that—but

were the only real thing in

one

-Clairessa

left it in

walked out

living room was quiet. Still. Adrian was gone.

he did

outside

me. The

distant way

places