Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4heB17djA
Laughing in the park.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa6Vu5uFmD
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOTx1bkplz
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkGsKMpJl3
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.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROSGDx2QDS
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJOQStLisr
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ3oQi7rpd
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.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyEUeuZm3r
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwPLRKMTY1
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LJsZlmsF6
Zoomed.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6u9KFSiJ2
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCzXqWVRFk
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5jjvDh6Ux
To blogs.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNfuwb5wQi
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.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrN3tOqkDw
And neither did fate.
178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkjH2o6BJa
and then Add to home screen.