Falling For My Ex's Dad by Oma Green

Chapter 187: Winning My Way Into Her Heart

Adrian's POV

Corporate bullshit.

That's what this was.

I stared at the screen-project timelines, team performance updates, and task

completion rates. None of it made any damn sense. Dad said this would be easy. Just sit in, observe, learn.

But the moment I opened my laptop, I knew I was in way over my head.

This wasn't my world.

I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be back in my restaurant-sleeves rolled up,

fire beneath the pan, knives gliding clean through ripe tomatoes.

That was me.

This? This was a cage dressed in fancy walls and giant windows.

But I was here because of Dad-and his threat to cut me out of the will.

I wasn't about to let him hand over everything he built to strangers. I was his only blood. His legacy-whether he liked it or not.

Still, I couldn't call his bluff. I knew my father well enough to know he never made empty threats. He'd do it just to prove a point.

And maybe just maybe there was still a part of me that wanted to make him proud. Wanted to see that look in his eyes that said I wasn't a disappointment. Because if I was being honest, I hadn't exactly been the ideal son.

And if I ever wanted him to take me seriously-if I ever wanted to be more than just the screw-up son who blew every shot he was given-then I had to prove it.

Not just with words. With action. With follow-through.

If sitting through board meetings and learning the business was the price to pay, then so be it-no matter how much I hated it.

Because this wasn't just about him.

There was also Clairessa.

She worked at Storm Innovations, and being here gave me a real shot at getting close to her again.

I didn't just let her slip through my fingers-I pushed her away. I hurt her. And somewhere deep inside, I was still bleeding from that.

sense. My restaurant thrived. I thrived. She brought clarity, calm,

dragged her back into my life without me even lifting

house burned down, but I wasn't about to waste the chance to use her staying

see it in her eyes every time she looked at me. But what she didn't understand was that

she knew exactly how to make a

couldn't let

ones who chased the fast cars, the private

was done with the fake smiles. Done with women who only saw the name or the

had,

kind of woman any

Smart. Homely. The kind of woman who'd walk beside me while I tried to become the man my father always

her. She wasn't the type to lie or play games. Too soft-hearted. Too innocent. That

love with me. Barely looked at

pretending. Pretending because I hurt her. But love? It was

stopped loving me just like that. That kind of love doesn't disappear

was someone

Shit.

was about to tell me something. A confession. Something

with him, out

her finish. I couldn't. The thought of someone else

her, knowing her-drives

A rebound? Is

It had to be a fling. She only said it to

Clairessa I knew wouldn't let just any

for a long time to get her to sleep with

to wait until

agreed-at first-because

with her.

and

That's when Nicole came into the

to someone else. I'm certain my Claire- baby is still

need to do now is

won't just fall for me again-she'll

I checked the time.

12:04.

Lunch.

a sigh-not like I understood a damn thing I'd been reading for the

air. Wine. And to see Clairessa. I

and she hadn't replied to