Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Hln53skal
Laughing in the park.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspjv8e7tY0
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpWAvqPbx0
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuHH47tdJV
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27ydstBQth
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKplnE80kXh
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC8Z8uWbmV
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnya08tNdOk
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBh68m90ua
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JIZp7aDn3
Zoomed.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvQgOxjWyp
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSmcZBkZDU
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QoyXmEev2
To blogs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKRlELT9nL
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AjnxuDkRI
And neither did fate.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2snl7eFYj
