Instagram/Backgrid Composite
Exclusive

Britney Spears Felt Ex Paul Was Using Her ... Brother Bryan Moves In With Her

Britney Spears and Paul Soliz called it quits on their relationship almost a month ago, after she came to the realization he was riding her coattails ... and now she's got a new roomie.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Britney and Paul split around 3 weeks ago, and they were dunzo once the singer realized her former maintenance worker-turned-boyfriend was only using her for the luxurious lifestyle.

The reasoning here certainly jibes with what Britney alluded to in her recent Instagram post putting Paul on blast and declaring herself "single as f***."

In the post, Britney accused Paul of allowing paparazzi to get a photo of them in her car -- rolling the passenger window down for a clear shot of Britney crying while riding shotgun -- only to then cry foul.

Our sources say Britney now feels Paul was just with her for clout.

TMZ.com

They also went to Las Vegas together and shacked up at the swanky Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood ... only to get in blowout fights in both celeb haunts.

Paul is now persona non grata at Britney's gated community, where our sources say she's made it clear to security guards her ex is no longer on the entry list.

TMZ.com

In the wake of the split, our sources say Britney's reaching out to friends ... expressing how she's not hurt over the breakup and how it was her decision to end things with Paul.

We're told Britney's also telling friends she's glad she finally saw Paul's true colors and cut him off.

With Paul out of the picture, our sources say Britney is spending a lot of time with her older Brother, Bryan.

As we've reported, Britney and her bro have recently taken trips to Cabo and Las Vegas ... and our sources tell us Bryan actually moved in with Brit full-time around the time she split from Paul.

While the timing of Bryan's move is interesting, our sources say he didn't move in because of the breakup ... we're told he'd already been spending a lot of time bonding with Britney while living close by, and it made sense for them to get under one roof.

Click here for info about our online advertising practices.