Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgCrAuPDq0
Laughing in the park.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzfH9HZbXj
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZRWhdTSBk
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fxACs0vjS
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.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNZYf7SPxJ
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyUYsY2dmk
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4EK5UYuCt
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.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOHFcz9HfZ
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ova3EUJHy
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKupM9astu
Zoomed.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2j1iZnyyu
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QcLXSgdLF
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0k6JggygN
To blogs.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjzxsc90fE
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.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOfEix1mKw
And neither did fate.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGYxe4XcXo
and then Add to home screen.