I believe No Contact is exactly what you need. It sounds a if he peeked out of the rabbit hole for a moment, but when you responded, he ducked back in.
It sounds as if you are perhaps, as I am, a "FIXER". All our intentions are good, but somewhere along the way, we became 'controlling' and 'think I'm stupid'.
Perhaps the only way to fix our situations is to not fix them at all. As they say, let him swing in the wind.
