Falling For My Ex's Dad (Clarissa and Gabriel)

Clairessa's POV

Gabriel's jaw tightened, and his eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't quite

name.

He turned to Tina, who had slipped on a robe, and gave her a look that sent a chill

through me. "Wait for me outside."

Of course, she obeyed like a loyal little pet, slamming the door behind her and

locking us both in.

He had the nerve the audacity to ask her to wait. Like I was the one

interrupting something special. Like I was the problem.

He turned back to me slowly, his expression darkening into something harder,

more detached. "Clairessa, you've taken it too fucking far," he warned, then took a

slow breath, his chest rising and falling as he tried to regulate himself.

He tried to play it calm, but it was too late for that. "If you can't be reasonable,

maybe we should-"

"So now you're kicking me out?" I exploded, my chest heaving. "Because I caught

you with your ex? The one you swore you were done with?"noveldrama

My throat tightened, and the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. "You

lied. You said she meant nothing to you. But clearly, she's still yours."

"She's not mine," Gabriel said through clenched teeth, dragging a hand down his

face, weariness etched into every line.

"I drank too much. I can't remember everything from last night. I'm just trying to

figure it out. But I can't think straight with you yelling-"

"And by the way," he added, his voice quieter now, "I would never kick you out. I'm

Just asking you to calm down. Let's talk-really talk without all this shouting.

Without saying things we'll regret in the end."

I laughed sarcastically. "Now you're worried about us hurting each other? Or

maybe what you really care about is your precious ego-the one that can't handle

the truth of who you really are."

His eyes narrowed as he paced slightly. "I refuse to argue with you when you're

like this. You're clearly emotional, and there's no reasoning with you right now."

That flipped a switch inside me.

A surge of molten fury rose from deep within. "So now I'm just the emotional

woman, right?" My voice rose with each word. "You're caught half-naked with

someone else, and I'm the one being irrational?"

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"No, Gabriel. Don't you dare. Gaslighting and manipulation? That's a new low,

even for you and you bloody know it!" I shouted, my voice cracking with the pain

burning in my chest.

"Don't use such horrible words to describe me," he snapped, his temper flaring.

"Especially when they're not true."

"Then tell me the truth," I demanded. "What's your excuse? My ex said he

cheated because I didn't give him enough sex. So what's your reason? Was I too

innocent? Too inexperienced? Not enough for you?"

Every word cut like glass, bleeding with the fear and anguish that I wasn't enough

-that no matter what I gave, I'd always be replaced.

"You've always been enough for me," he said, his voice full of raw honesty. But I

knew better.

He stepped toward me, lifting a hand to brush my cheek, trying to wipe the tears

from my face.

I jerked back. I couldn't stand his touch.

"Since the moment I laid eyes on you, I've never wanted anyone else. No one

comes close. I would know, because-"

"Liar!" I screamed, silencing him. My voice cracked-just like my heart. "No one

else comes close, and yet I walk in on you with her-naked! What do you call

that? Love? Loyalty?"

"I didn't plan this-"

"Oh, how convenient," I snapped. "You didn't plan to betray me. She just stumbled

into your bed? Give me a break."

"Maybe... At this moment, I can't vouch for you. But what I do know for sure is that

you're just like every other man-unable to keep it in your pants, just like my ex.

Don't pretend you're some model of discipline, Gabriel. You have no

You know that's not true," he rasped, cutting me off. "I've built my life on

discipline, on control. But last night... I was vulnerable. I let my emotions cloud my

judgment because I was hurting."

Hurting?

I stared at him, repulsed. "Well, this is my version of hurting. We're done. I never

want to see you again." My voice dropped to a strained whisper. "It's over. We're

over."

The way his face changed-it was as

though I'd physically struck him.

"You don't mean that. You can't just

walk away from this... I know how it

looks. I'm sorry, Clairessa, but this

isn't just on me-"

"Then whose fault is it?" I demanded, my voice tight. "Please, enlighten me."

He wrestled with himself for a moment, then the words spilled out.

"You. You're the reason for all of this. Whatever secret you're hiding-it pushed

me to this."

I blinked, shocked by how low he was willing to go to justify his actions. "You're

insane," I hissed. "You're seriously blaming me? What secret are you even talking

about?"

"I can't talk about it, not until I understand and have all the facts." He looked away,

avoiding my gaze as though the weight of the truth was too much to face.

"This... this is just you trying to manipulate the situation," I spat, disbelief lacing my

words. "And now you want to play the victim?"

"Fuck... Clairessa," he gritted out, his voice heavy with frustration.

"That's not what's happening. I don't

need to play the victim. I never have.

I'm saying this because I have

reason to believe you're not as

innocent as you've always claimed

to be. I doubt you ever were."

And just like that, I shattered.

Tears poured down my face. Pain tore through my chest like a thousand splinters.

"I thought I knew you," I sobbed. "But you're everything I was afraid of."

"I hate you," I muttered. "I hate you." I kept repeating it, as though trying to make

myself believe it.

I turned and stumbled toward the door on unsteady legs. I reached for the handle,

choking on sobs-only to bump straight into Tina. Her smug little smirk slapped

me harder than any blow.

I stopped, turned just enough to make sure Gabriel heard every word.

"You know what, Gabriel?" I said, loud and clear. "Maybe I should go out, drink

with some random guy, then show up crying about how I was drunk and

vulnerable. How would you like that?"

"Don't even think about it," he

growled, stepping forward. "Because

if you do, I swear-I'll find him, I'll

find you, and I'll make sure neither of

you forget what happens when you

cross me."

I looked him dead in the eyes, daring him to say it again. "Who the hell do you

think you are to threaten me-after everything you've done?"

"I'm your man," he growled, his voice filled with possessiveness. "You'll always be

mine, Clairessa-until I say we're done. Not before, not after."

There was a time those words would've made me melt. Made me ache for him.

Now?

All I felt was fury.

"No," I shot back, my chest tightening with a raw, aching emptiness. "Not

anymore. And I say we're done. That means it's over."

Just as I was about to walk away, his voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Tell me," he urged, the desperation in his tone obvious. "Have you ever cheated

on me?"

I turned around, more disappointed than I thought was possible. "How could you

even think I would-?" My voice dropped. "The answer is never. Don't you dare try

to dump your guilt on me."

I just-

"No," I cut him off, unable to stand another word, another lie, another

manipulation. I was done. My patience had run out.

"I caught you cheating, Gabriel." My voice trembled. "And now you want to flip it

on me? Make me the cheater so you don't have to face the monster in the

mirror?"

He said nothing.

Because there was nothing left to say.

So I walked out.

And this time-I didn't look back.