My ex-spouse made numerous false accusations during our divorce process. Given that this was her second divorce, the police were less than enthusiastic to indulge her claims, which were ultimately proven to be unfounded, resulting in us sharing custody evenly.

Initially, I was prepared to move forward, even agreeing to enroll our kids in several activities and sports she suggested, all on my dime. However, she never showed the same spirit of cooperation and consistently denied me any input in our children's lives. Our communication has now been relegated to a parenting coordinator, where she brings up petty, irrelevant issues about me in an attempt to tarnish my image, all while smirking inexplicably.

It baffles me how she clings to resentment, instead of focusing on the well-being of our kids by moving on. She continues to spread rumors among our mutual acquaintances.

Just yesterday, I had an unsettling encounter at the gym. I was working out with my niece and nephew, and a 19-year-old, who happens to be the son of one of her friends, was glaring at me as if he wanted to provoke a conflict. As a 40-year-old man, I'm confident that I could defend myself very well. I suspect he might have heard some twisted tales from his parents that originated from my ex-spouse. I'm unsure whether to confront him about his behavior or ignore it.

The issue with overlooking his antagonism is that he may misconstrue my silence as fear, which might embolden him to continue trying to intimidate me.