Falling For My Ex's Dad (Clarissa and Gabriel) novel Chapter 182

Gabriel’s POV

“Mom, please don’t go... come back…”

My voice cracked in the dark as I reached for her—but the door slammed before I could move.

I jolted awake, heart pounding, drenched in sweat.

The alarm blared beside me like it wanted to yank me out of more than sleep.

4:30 AM.

I shut it off and sat there, breathing hard, trying to understand why that dream had come back—after all these years.

I hadn’t thought about her in so long. I buried that part of my life so deep I almost convinced myself it never happened.

But her face lingered—clear as day.

That day—when she packed her bags, shouted that she was done, and walked out to be with another man. She didn’t look back. Just said my dad would hear from her lawyer about the divorce papers, then slammed the door like we were nothing.

She left us like we were just another chapter she couldn’t wait to rip out.

I was ten.

My dad—God. He picked up the pieces. I still remembered the look in his eyes, the way he forced a tired smile through all that heartbreak. He never broke down in front of me, but I saw it. I saw him fight battles no man should’ve fought alone.

Friends swindled him. Partners backstabbed him. But he kept going. He worked himself into the ground to give me food, clothes—a shot at something better. He never let me feel like I lacked anything, even when we had nothing. He didn’t let my mother’s betrayal harden him.

He taught me what love looked like—even after she tore him apart.

A few years later, he met my stepmother, Lydia. He found love again, and something in both of us began to heal.

She was everything my mother wasn’t—gentle, kind, patient. She never tried to replace my mom. She didn’t need to. She became something better.

She made our house a home again.

She loved my dad the way he deserved. She loved me like I was hers, no questions asked. That was the first time I believed in love again.

Real love.

Peaceful. Safe. Whole.

I wanted to repay them—for everything. Buy them a house. Give them the comfort they never had.

That became my dream. My drive.

But life doesn’t care about dreams.

A car crash took my parents while I was still in university.

That’s when Angelique and I reconnected.

When I was at my lowest. When I needed someone—anything—to fill the void.

I mistook that need for love.

I married her right after college, too young, thinking I could rebuild what I’d lost.

I wanted stability. Something permanent.

But she cheated. Lied. Left me with a son—the same way my mother had left my father.

Even when Clairessa asked about my mom, I told her about my stepmom—the one who died in the crash—and left out my dad, who died too.

My real mom? She might still be out there, chasing her dreams. She never reached out, and I never went looking.

Honestly, I forgot I even had another mother besides Lydia.

She was the one who taught me everything that mattered—how to be kind, how to be selfless, how to treat a woman. How to love. How to cook. The list goes on.

I never talk about those years. Never told anyone the full story. Maybe I thought if I buried it deep enough, it would stay there.

But the things we bury always find a way back, don’t they?

And now… Clairessa.

Her betrayal hit harder than any I’d known before. She didn’t just hurt me—she deceived me. On purpose. And it tore open wounds I thought had long since healed. Not just the ones left by my ex-wife, but the ones buried deep from childhood. From every woman I had ever trusted… and lost.

And out of all the women who had hurt me—she was the one I loved the most. The one I would’ve done anything for. Moved heaven and hell just to see her smile. Just to be near her.

Despite everything—despite the pain, the history, the wreckage—I let her in. I thought she was different. I thought she was mine.

I swore I’d never love again.

But I did.

I fell for her. Maybe I’m still in love with her—with every fiber of my being.

And now I couldn’t have her.

Because of Adrian.

He’s all I have left. The only family I’ve got. We’ve been through it all together.

From the moment Angelique left—Adrian was just a boy, too scared to sleep alone because the nightmares wouldn’t stop.

He’d wake up crying for her night after night, and she was nowhere to be found. I offered her money, a house, whatever she wanted—just to come back for him. But she refused, unless I took her back too. And that was never going to happen.

So even when Adrian messed up—blew opportunities, burned through my money—I never turned my back on him. I kept hoping he’d grow, kept protecting him. He was still my little boy… the only person I had left.

Maybe that’s just a father’s foolish kind of love.

I got up and went to the bathroom, still hearing the echo of my mother’s voice in my head.

I stood under the shower longer than necessary, letting the hot water run down like it could wash off everything—grief, regret, longing.

I shaved, standing in front of the mirror, then stepped into black tailored slacks and pulled on a crisp white shirt, fastening each button like muscle memory.

Today mattered.

Adrian was starting at the company.

After all these years of pushing him, he was finally taking that step.

I should’ve felt proud.

And I did.

Mostly.

But as I adjusted my collar in the mirror, my thoughts drifted—back to her.

Clairessa.

How was she doing?

Was she coming in today?

Would she agree to my terms?

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