My stomach twisted. I wanted to hang up, but something in his tone held me still. I kept my voice flat.
“What do you want?”
He pretended to sigh, like this was just a hard conversation between old friends.
“I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s time for me to be involved again. She’s my daughter too. And I think it’d be good for her to have her father in her life. Especially now that everything is blowing up over there.”
I closed my eyes, steadying myself.
“You walked away. You never called. You left us with nothing.”
He chuckled again, a sound that made the hair on my arms rise.
“Come on, Cara. That’s old history. People change. I’m ready to step up now. And since you’re doing well, it would make sense for us to work together on this. I think we can find some sort of arrangement.”
His voice dipped slightly, growing calculating.
“I know your parents set up an account for Lily. They wanted to make sure I had updates. They said it was better that way, to keep the peace. They sent pictures, school info, milestones. You know, for her future.”
My blood ran cold. I swallowed hard.
“What are you talking about?”
He sounded genuinely surprised.
“They never told you. I figured they did. They’ve been keeping me updated since she was a year old. Said it was the right thing, since you shut me out. And with that account they opened for her college fund, I thought you’d be grateful they included me. Guess not.”
My heart thudded once, hard enough that it echoed in my ears. My parents had given him pictures. Details. Access. Years of information I had never consented to share. I felt sick.
Connor continued, oblivious.
“Anyway, like I said, I want to come back in. And with everything going public tonight, this might be the perfect moment. People love redemption arcs. I can play the father who comes home. Courts eat that up. But I want to do this the clean way. You and I work something out. A shared custody deal. Financial cooperation. That kind of thing.”
I gripped the phone until my knuckles hurt.
“You’re not coming near my daughter.”
He scoffed.
“You don’t get to decide that anymore. Not now that the whole world knows she exists and her dad wants to be a part of her life.”
My voice shook.
“You’ve never been her father.”
He answered softly, with a smile I could hear even without seeing it.
“The law might disagree.”