diff --git a/app/src/main/java/app/closer/ui/questions/DailyQuestionViewModel.kt b/app/src/main/java/app/closer/ui/questions/DailyQuestionViewModel.kt
index d73a1119..ab9d06e1 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/app/closer/ui/questions/DailyQuestionViewModel.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/app/closer/ui/questions/DailyQuestionViewModel.kt
@@ -75,7 +75,26 @@ class DailyQuestionViewModel @Inject constructor(
                 val today = resolved.date
                 val coupleId = resolved.coupleId
                 val question = resolved.question
-                val answer = question?.let { localAnswerRepository.getAnswer(it.id) }
+                // Room-first, but if Room has none while Firestore already holds this user's answer
+                // (fresh device / cleared DB), reconcile it back so we don't offer a re-answer that
+                // the immutable secure/payload rule would silently reject — R23 data-loss guard.
+                val userId = authRepository.currentUserId
+                val answer = question?.let { q ->
+                    if (coupleId != null && userId != null) {
+                        runCatching {
+                            reconcileLocalAnswerFromFirestore(
+                                question = q,
+                                coupleId = coupleId,
+                                date = today,
+                                userId = userId,
+                                firestore = firestoreAnswerDataSource,
+                                localAnswers = localAnswerRepository
+                            )
+                        }.getOrNull()
+                    } else {
+                        localAnswerRepository.getAnswer(q.id)
+                    }
+                }
                 val partnerHasAnswered = coupleId?.let {
                     runCatching { checkPartnerAnswered(it, today) }.getOrDefault(false)
                 } ?: false