Trina stared at her cracked phone screen, zooming in on a blurry photo she took earlier that week.
Samantha.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86ErsN3zxH
Laughing in the park.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVSIkzkskq
With Ryan holding Angelique's hand.
Perfect little family, Trina thought bitterly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXPSVUD7TO
Smiling. Thriving. Untouched.
She hadn't meant to follow them that day.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspB6JlVALF
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLUYyBsPES
Lingering outside Samantha's subdivision.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeeaGVq4pY
Taking pictures from a distance.
Just to feel something.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI86MpjG0uN
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhRrtpezPR
Searched #MagtalasEnterprises.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ722N9yesAM
Found a video of Samantha giving a speech.
Screenshotted.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfL1NBUKDpL
Zoomed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y8fpT8MNJ
Saved.
She clicked to a photo of Samantha and Ryan at a company event.
Her thumb hovered over the "send" button.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfabNtgkzYp
She considered sending it anonymously to Henry's parents.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyii1U5Isa
To blogs.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uboPQ8HcX
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkE82ny3Zm
And neither did fate.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWNsbRm1el
