Liam Payne's ex-flame, Danielle Peazer, has shared the poignant final words he sent her just "weeks" before his untimely demise.
The 36-year-old dancer, who was in an intermittent relationship with Liam from their days on The X Factor in 2010 until they split in 2013, kept quiet initially but has now chosen to share her grief publicly.
Reflecting on her past love, Danielle admitted she needed time to "grieve privately". Mourning the One Direction singer, who tragically fell to his death at age 31 from a balcony in Buenos Aires on Wednesday (October 16), Danielle revealed that Liam reached out to express joy for her happiness with her children Sonny and Mia.
READ MORE: Liam Payne's body 'held in Argentina for weeks' as family awaits return for funeral
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According to Danielle, though the world knew Liam as a mega star, his real joy was fatherhood with his son Bear, aged seven, with former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, 41, and being an uncle to his sister Ruth's little boy.
In a touching Instagram tribute featuring a throwback snap of her and Liam licking ice creams, Danielle penned: "Whilst we all take the time to navigate in a world without Liam, it's important to remember that while he was adored by millions as a world famous musician for the last decade, he was also someone's son and brother for more than 30 years, a friend to so many and more recently an uncle."
Danielle poured her heart out in a gut-wrenching tribute, saying: "His most important role and something he was the most proud of out of all of his monumental successes was that he was a father. The thought that there is a now a child growing up without one of their parents is heartbreaking and unfair. To Liam's son Bear, as well as his parents and sisters, my love, thoughts and strength goes to you. The magnitude of this loss is incomprehensible and I will continue to support you in any way I am able to."
She admitted that although she and Liam didn't always see eye-to-eye, they always supported each other. She added: "LJP, this still doesn't feel real. Despite being aware of your struggles over the years, I hoped and prayed that this day would never come. But now we're all facing the reality of living a life without your presence. It's common at times like this for people to say 'I hope he knew how much I cared about him' but I know that you knew how I felt, it was one thing we were really good at - being brutally honest with our feelings for each other, whether the other wanted to hear it or not."
Finally, she reflected on their relationship dynamics, saying: "At times you were my favourite person in the whole world, but you could also wind me up so much and I probably annoyed the hell out of you sometimes too. It was something we learned to accept of each other over 14 years, we could disagree on so many things yet still look out for each other in times of need and laugh about our disagreements and petty behaviour 10 mins later.
"Our relationship may have ended back in 2013, but that seemed to be just the start of our story. The things we went through and experienced from then all the way until last year could be described as unique to some and misunderstood by others, but I think deep down we always knew we'd have some sort of connection forever, no matter where our individual lives took us."
She painted Liam as a people-pleaser and confessed he perhaps didn't grasp that he was "more than enough for this world" as he was. She mused: "It took a little longer for you to figure out the person you wanted to be in order to be your happiest, but whilst most of us have our teens and twenties to learn about ourselves, you spent those years giving more to the world than you ever needed to. I wish you knew that you were always more than enough for this world without having to search for a role to play just to please others."
Sharing the final message he sent her before leaving this world, Danielle concluded: "Thank you for teaching me about the importance of setting boundaries, and that I should always protect my heart. Receiving a message from you a couple of weeks ago expressing your happiness for the love I found with Sonny and Mia is something I'll cherish forever. I'm sorry your story didn't end differently, and I'm sorry you didn't ever get to share more of your magic with the world. Rest easy my friend. Love Danielle."
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