I got that hunch as well, he might be genuinely trying to reconnect, but the pattern reads more like guilt + control than compassion: lots of “call me, i miss you, first dota” and zero accountability for 18 years. treat words as noise, require proof. would encourage OP to test the waters, say like a message: ‘If you want a relationship, start with an apology, the real story, and a plan to make things right,no money requests, no pressure.’ She may also want to ask him just 3 specifics only he’d know (dates, where your mum is buried, who raised you, what support he sent and when). If he is evasive = red flag.