When Gordon saw me standing there frozen, he scowled and grabbed my arm. He dragged me toward Serena.
"It wasn't easy convincing Serena to come over and take a look at you. Go slice up some fruit, then tell her exactly what's going on so she can examine you properly," he barked.
He gazed at Serena with adoration, like a lapdog eager to please.
The sight of it chilled me.
Even so, I looked down, playing the part of a well-behaved girlfriend. I went into the kitchen, brewed a pot of coffee, and brought out a plate of neatly arranged fruit.
Then, I held out my hand and said, "Serena, I've been having stomach pain lately. It's so bad that I break into cold sweats and can barely get through work. Can you take a look?"
Serena didn't even look up or take my hand. She simply asked, "Any other symptoms besides the pain?"
I quickly added, "I've been throwing up too. The nausea and cramps just won't stop!"
As soon as I finished speaking, Serena pointed at me and declared, "You're pregnant. The cramping is just the baby moving, while the vomiting is typical morning sickness. I'll write you a prescription to help stabilize the pregnancy. Make sure you get plenty of rest."
Almost immediately, the livestream chat lit up with comments congratulating Gordon and me.
However, when he saw the messages, his brow furrowed deeply.
"I'm a traditional man," he said solemnly. "I don't believe in sleeping together before marriage."
Then, he turned to me. "Jolene Miller, how could you go behind my back and get pregnant with another man's child?"
Gordon sounded so self-righteous, but I caught the glint of excitement in his eyes. Serena had just returned from abroad, and he was already scrambling to distance himself from me.
The chat blew up again. But this time, they were all condemning me. They called me shameless. Just like in my past life, the insults came pouring in from every direction.
At that moment, Serena frowned and took my wrist. Her voice was thick with concern as she said, "It doesn't matter who the father is. This baby is innocent.
"As a doctor, nothing upsets me more than a mother who refuses to take responsibility. Take the meds I prescribed and make sure you carry the child to term."
She backed me into a corner with those words.
First, Serena insisted I was pregnant without even examining me. And with Gordon backing her up, they concluded I was carrying another man's child.
Then, right in front of the entire livestream audience, she told me I had to keep the baby and that I couldn't hurt an innocent life.
To the audience, I was nothing more than a promiscuous woman. Meanwhile, Serena was a kindhearted doctor.
Even if I presented proof that I wasn't pregnant, they'd still accuse me of sneaking off for an abortion out of guilt. No matter how I tried to defend myself, no one would believe me.
The viewer count kept climbing, and the livestream was gaining traction fast. Just like that, the platform featured Serena on its homepage.
Once the public frenzy hit its peak, I looked up at them. Innocence was written all over my face as I asked, "Pregnant? How could I possibly be pregnant? Serena, you're a brilliant OB-GYN, aren't you? And you couldn't tell I'm still a virgin?"
The livestream chat exploded as more and more people flooded in to join the drama.
Some creep fixated on my thighs and typed, "She's got no thigh gap at all. Yeah, she's definitely a virgin."
But the moment that comment appeared, Serena's fans came after him without mercy.
One wrote, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that Dr. Lawson's diagnosis was wrong?"
Another commented, "If you don't know anything about medicine, then shut up! Dr. Lawson's a brilliant OB-GYN. She doesn't make mistakes!"
The next comment read, "Come on! It's obvious she cheated on her boyfriend. Those comments defending her were probably just bots she paid for."
Another person replied, "Hey, that's possible!"
Comments like that poured in nonstop, with dozens popping up every second.
With the crowd on her side, Serena flashed a triumphant smile before saying, "Jolene, everyone makes mistakes. What matters is that you own up to them. There's no need to be so stubborn.
"I told you to rest for your own good, for the sake of your health and your baby. If you've got an issue with me, just say so. But don't question my skills as a doctor."
She made herself sound so righteous that even the skeptics in the chat started taking her side.
The chat was blowing up. By then, someone had already turned my face into a meme, with the words, "I'm pregnant, but I'm just too stubborn to admit it!"
My phone wouldn't stop buzzing either. Friends and relatives who had seen the stream kept messaging to ask if I was really pregnant.
A cold smile crept onto my lips as the chaos reached its peak.
"Serena, you're confident in your medical expertise, aren't you? According to your diagnosis, I really am pregnant, correct?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Serena's eyes. I spoke with calm precision and looked nothing like the flustered wreck she had expected.
Still, she nodded and slipped right back into her high-and-mighty act.
"Yes, you're pregnant and not just by a few weeks. You're not showing because you've been deliberately controlling your weight and trying to slow the baby's development.
"But Jolene, as a doctor and a friend, I have to say this. The child is innocent. Please don't punish it for your mistake. Just rest and take care of yourself and the baby."
That was when Gordon stepped in front of me. His gaze was icy as he said, "Serena's right. The kid is innocent.
"I won't make a fuss about you screwing around behind my back, and I don't care who you got pregnant by. That illegitimate child has nothing to do with me. Let's just break up."
His speech turned the chat into a collective sob-fest. To the viewers, he was the poor guy who got cheated on but still handled it with class.
Tons of women were fangirling in the comments, saying they'd love to have his babies.
Once I had baited them far enough, I nodded. A beat later, I shot back, "But Serena, you never even examined me. There were no tests. You kept insisting I was pregnant after several simple questions.
"Are you ready to take responsibility for that? Because if I'm not, then not only were you wrong, but you've also slandered me in front of everyone. I have every right to hold you legally accountable."
In an instant, Gordon's face twisted with rage. He stepped in front of Serena, shielding her as he shot me a scathing glare.
"Even now, you won't own up to it, huh? There's no way Serena got it wrong! You're just trying to drag her name through the mud! For all we know, you could get an abortion at some clinic and then say she misdiagnosed you."
Gordon spat, "I didn't realize you were this twisted, Jolene. You screwed up, and now you want to take a decent doctor down with you?"
The way he blindly defended Serena made my blood boil. I was one second away from slapping them both, but I held back.
Instead, I calmly reached into my tote bag, pulled out a surgical report, and held it up to the camera. "Abortion? That'd be impossible because I was never able to get pregnant to begin with."