No demand for support.

No tearful voicemail.

No summons.

Her absolute silence became a phantom slap I felt across my face every day — a standing reminder that somewhere on this earth was a soul who considered my whole empire of dollars to be worth exactly nothing.

In the early years I used to brace for her, half-expecting a lawyer’s letter, a claim on my growing fortune, the inevitable moment she would surface with her hand out.

It never came.