The Single Dad Joked: “Careful, People Will Think We’re Dating.”- I Whispered, “I Hope They Do.” Then His Ex-Wife Tried to Destroy Me.

That was the problem.

Good men sometimes thought suffering quietly was nobility. They called fear responsibility. They called retreat protection. They swallowed every insult as long as it landed on them instead of their child.

But Claire knew that.

She had built her entire plan around it.

“I need to slow things down,” he said.

There it was.

Not a surprise.

Still a wound.

I nodded once.

“With me,” I said.