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.

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

through the room, filling the

my life. Every beat of my heart,

what came after... that was

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

But I was wrong.

I knew him well enough

loved me the way

one had ever looked at me like I was

Not even Adrian.

Adrian could never compare.

a kind of fierce tenderness I

no man ever had. He cared for me,

Gave me the things I didn't even know I needed until I had

Cherished me. Made me feel like

reasons I loved him could

air. My cheeks were

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

my house-now. Not a second

His final words.

Gabriel would never physically hurt me.

seen him like that-so broken, so consumed

I had pushed him

I did this.

had no

I had to leave.

and I knew he meant

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

body sore, but I

had washed and dried my clothes. I spotted theme folded neatly at the edge of the bed. He must've left them there for

I'd need

numb as I fumbled with the buttons of my jeans

slipped on my shoes.

the room, desperate to leave something

of myself Gabriel

the drawer and a pen that barely worked. Sitting

a

say to the man

The man you broke?

never look at you the same

trembled as

Gabriel,

I'm sorry.

you never for

only real thing

hope one day you'll

-Clairessa

note and left it in the center of

walked out of

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

he did

stepped outside and pulled

me. The estate was massive-expansive,

that distant way on

places