Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepv7UcYi98
Laughing in the park.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD6zgUkeWP
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7waOtrw9e
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVnWR73P3R
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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYWAcIrAhO
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6I6wtRXzqH
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQU2BYYVFO
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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtTlzjHH4n
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCNri6pM3w
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKngFS3d4Z
Zoomed.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRsnBP8aRZ
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKiQshcq38
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ580uJmF98
To blogs.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00LLrKapcP
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.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaoBtXaZeg
And neither did fate.
99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZHSSsqFh1
and then Add to home screen.