Chapter 3I Refuse To Be Your Distraction

Lexi's account uploaded a new video.

"Title: Announcing I'm Pregnant at my Best Friend's Proposal Party to See the Bride's Reaction!"

A few normal viewers commented: "This isn't funny. It's incredibly disrespectful."

Her army of fans immediately swarmed the comments, hounding the users until they deleted their posts.

I shut off my phone, getting ready to leave after my shift.

The comments floated up again.

[Miranda, run! Someone is waiting to jump you.]

[Lexi made a fake account and told her fan club that you beat her up and put her in the hospital.]

[Her rabid fans hired some local thugs. They're waiting in the hospital garage right now!]

An alarm blared in my head.

Instead of taking the elevator, I crept down the fire stairs. Sure enough, there were three shady-looking men loitering near my car.

I snapped a quick photo of them and dialed Lexi directly.

She seemed surprised to hear from me, but her tone quickly turned smug. "Hudson and I are at a friend's estate for a pool party. You want an invite?"

When I arrived, they were in the middle of a loud, drunken game of Truth or Dare.

The crowd was chanting for Hudson and Lexi to share a one-minute kiss.

Seeing me walk in, Lexi smirked and wrapped her arms around Hudson's neck, leaning in.

Hudson immediately pushed her off, looking at me with a mix of panic and eager submission.

"Babe, what are you doing here?"

He stepped forward to wrap his arms around me, but I stepped right past him and slapped the photo onto the table in front of Lexi.

"Your doing?"

Lexi glanced at it. A flash of guilt crossed her face, but she quickly masked it with a cold scoff.

"Are you out of your mind? What is this trash?"

I stared her down.

"Lexi, I thought you crossing boundaries and throwing yourself at someone else's boyfriend under the guise of 'pranks' was the lowest you could go."

"I didn't realize you literally had no bottom line."

"Let me make this clear: I am not a pushover. If you try to use these disgusting, cowardly tactics to hurt me again, I will ruin you."

The entire room went dead silent.

To Hudson's friends, I had always been the quiet, rational doctor who never lost her temper. When Lexi kissed Hudson in public before, I had simply grabbed my bag and left without a word.

They never expected me to humiliate Lexi so fiercely in front of everyone.

The atmosphere turned incredibly tense.

Hudson tried to soften his voice, reaching out to soothe me. "Babe, there has to be a mistake here..."

I let out a bitter laugh, holding up my phone.

"A mistake? Did I hire these thugs myself?"

"She incited her fans to attack me. If I hadn't noticed them in time and slipped away, what do you think would have happened to me tonight?"

My voice shook with raw anger.

Hudson sighed, pulling me toward him. "Miranda, calm down. You weren't actually hurt. And a photo doesn't prove anything. For all we know, someone is trying to set her up..."

The last thread of my patience snapped.

I shoved him away with all my strength, screaming, "Do you remember promising me that if she ever hurt me, you'd make her pay?!"

"So what, I have to be kidnapped, beaten, or assaulted before you'll believe me?!"

"Hudson! I don't care if you believe me or not! You can let her trample all over our three years together, you can let her run wild in our lives, and you can believe her lies blindly!"

"But you do not have the right to stop me from protecting myself!"

I was shaking violently, completely pushed to the brink.

Hudson had never seen me like this.

Lexi bit her lip, looking at Hudson with a face full of tragic victimhood.

"Hudson, we've known each other for twenty years. Are you really going to let your ex-girlfriend stand here and humiliate me like this?"

She suddenly grabbed a wine bottle, smashed it on the table, and held a jagged edge to her wrist.

Hudson panicked. He shoved me aside, rushing to wrestle the broken glass from her hand. "Are you insane?!"

She collapsed into his arms, sobbing hysterically. "Let me go! You're a jerk, Hudson! I hate you!"

I watched the spectacle.

With a cold, mocking laugh, I turned to walk away.

Terrified, Hudson broke away from her and lunged to grab my wrist. "Miranda, wait!"

"Get lost!"

I swung around and slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't you ever come near me again."

As I slammed the door behind me, I heard Hudson's furious roar from inside the house.

"Miranda, if I ever chase after you again, I'm a goddamn dog!"