Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAAZa4kHw8
Laughing in the park.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHSdjNpCZQ
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lYjI0IJpB
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwjDr5tBLi
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.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEGSgKt6yN
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oYBCiQ4pi
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wfMXNiyp9
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.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4vL9h20le
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYPZ2TtTBY
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaFFl6Gkze
Zoomed.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8mkYE0oNO
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSmDwGOea4
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUNmsXjkmG
To blogs.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5Zq8jF1Ii
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.195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvT14UnEzB
And neither did fate.
195Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQCkGw86Du
and then Add to home screen.