Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZUHAJTW7b
Laughing in the park.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHKUyzMnXy
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSadwyJ32y2
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjaasTjjG3
She just... couldn't help it.
Ever since Henry backed away—since he refused to move back in, since he said "we're not a family just because you're pregnant"—Trina felt something snapping inside her.
So she found herself watching.
Driving past the firm.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DQY87gIcZ
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbgj8HCN4N
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvzVQcZgMM
Just to remind herself: she used to win.
That evening, Trina cornered Henry at a jeepney stop.
"I need you," she said, arms crossed over her growing stomach. "This isn't just my baby. It's yours too."
Henry didn't answer.
"I saw you yesterday," she went on, voice colder. "At the park. With her. Holding that child's hand like—like she's yours."
Henry's jaw locked.
"You're playing daddy to the girl you abandoned, and now you're ghosting the baby who hasn't even been born yet?"
"Trina," he warned.
She stepped closer. "If you think I'll let you disappear this time—you're wrong. You owe me. You owe this baby. And if you want to keep pretending you're a new man? Then start acting like one."
He exhaled slowly, looking past her.
"I'm not pretending. I'm just done living a lie."
Later that night...
Trina opened a burner Instagram account.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE2k5oANRq
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eMhmA33qn
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWybf7soQ5
Zoomed.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6kM4FMSYe
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDT1SgRGh9
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCeSQDKo6O
To blogs.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjKCElVxYn
To anyone.
But she didn't. Not yet.
Instead, she opened her notes app and typed one sentence:
"If I can't have peace, neither can she."
Meanwhile...
Samantha sat curled on the couch, Angelique's head on her lap, Ryan gently massaging her shoulders.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded. But her hand lingered on Angelique's hair.
"I've just been feeling... watched, lately," she said quietly. "Like something's circling back."
Ryan's eyes sharpened.
"Do I need to look into it?"
Samantha shook her head. "Maybe it's just a feeling."
But Ryan didn't believe in just feelings.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lD5z0P8EG
And neither did fate.
134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoxfScpBTP
and then Add to home screen.