“She doesn’t take nonsense from men like Thomas.”

“Tell her I sent you.”

I took the paper, thanked him, and walked back home through the freezing drizzle.

When I opened my front door, Caroline was sitting at the kitchen table, her laptop open.

She didn’t look up when I walked in.

“Grandma,” she said, her voice tight.

“What is it?” I asked, hanging my damp coat on the rack.

“Look at this.”

She turned the laptop toward me.

It was a public post on a social media platform, shared by Thomas’s real estate agency page in Richmond.

There was a photograph of Thomas standing in front of a large brick colonial house, smiling widely.

The caption read: *Family is everything. Preparing the guest room for my daughter’s upcoming visits to Richmond. Can’t wait to show her the city.*

The comments below were filled with congratulations from his clients and colleagues.

*What a wonderful father,* one wrote.

*So glad you’re finally reuniting,* wrote another.

He was already setting the stage, building a public image of a doting father kept away from his child.