Since Katie Holmes’ ninja-like escape from her marriage to Tom Cruise, she has earned global admiration for winning primary custody of their daughter Suri. But despite the actress’s genius legal manoeuvring against her Hollywood heavyweight ex, it appears ultimately the decision over where Suri’s heart will truly lie rests with her six-year-old daughter – and Katie’s not going to like the answer.

In a bid to introduce the long pampered Suri to a simpler way of life, Katie has moved to an apartment in Manhattan since splitting from Tom and escaping his LA mega-mansion. She and Suri now take cabs instead of jets, do their own grocery shopping, and the previously home-schooled youngster has been enrolled in a co-ed school. Katie has even patiently refused to give in to the little girl’s most furious tantrums.

But the second Suri was reunited with her father last week, for the first time in a month, all of Katie’s hard work unravelled when it became clear that Tom was prepared to play good cop. “Tom spared no expense during his reunion with Suri,” an insider tells Star magazine. “He made up for lost time with more than $170,000 worth of extravagant gifts, lavish buffets of her favourite foods at their five-star hotel, and a round-trip helicopter ride to the beach. Tom was clearly trying to win over Suri – he wanted to make a grand impression on his impressionable daughter. And it worked!”

With everything laid on for her, it’s no wonder the little girl was shattered when she was returned to her mother. “She was crying her eyes out and wailing for her daddy,” says the magazine’s source. “Tom’s master plan worked to perfection, and Suri’s sobbing broke Katie’s heart. Now Katie is more afraid than ever that she’s going to lose Suri to Tom.”

Read more about Katie and Tom in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday July 30, 2012.