The custody battle was ugly. I fought for 50/50 custody, but Patricia had this whole victim narrative prepared. She’d been documenting “evidence” of my supposed neglect: times I’d worked late, business trips I’d taken, even parent-teacher conferences I’d missed due to work emergencies. She painted a picture of an absent father who didn’t deserve equal custody. The judge wasn’t buying the worst of it, but he did give Patricia primary custody, with me getting every other weekend and alternating holidays. A standard arrangement that basically meant I went from seeing my daughter daily to seeing her four days a month. Patricia acted like she’d won the lottery.

Part 1: The Seeds of Alienation

From day one, Patricia weaponized that custody arrangement. She would conveniently “forget” to tell me about Olivia’s school events until after they’d happened. Dance recitals, science fairs, school plays. I’d find out about them through Facebook posts after the fact. When I’d confront her, she’d claim she told me, and I must have forgotten. Never had proof either way. She’d schedule doctor appointments and parent-teacher conferences on days I had Olivia, then blame me for missing them when I couldn’t take last-minute time off.

She started telling Olivia that “Daddy was too busy with work to come to her important events.” A seven-year-old doesn’t understand the difference between “can’t make it because of malicious scheduling” and “doesn’t care enough to show up.”