After the troubles of the past few days with Pen — and especially Lux — Viv just wanted to isolate herself. At first, Viv only wanted Lux to stop annoying her and leave Pen alone, which had somehow led to some unexpected intimacy with Lux. Fine — Viv could clearly admit that her cuddle-level intimacy with Pen was always part of the plan, but her intimacy with Lux happened purely because she was pissed off... and maybe a little curious.

Right now, Viv needed another plan to turn the situation around and clean up the mess. There was only one option she could think of — getting herself thrown into the SHU.

To pull off this terrible plan, Viv had to behave badly toward both other inmates and the C.O.s. One target was Vanessa — the girl secretly carrying a C.O.'s child, two months pregnant. She wasn't nearly as innocent (or stupid) as Viv had thought. In fact, Vanessa had given birth just two weeks before getting pregnant by this C.O., a fact that was sensational enough to make Viv lose almost all sympathy for her.
That bitch hasn't even divorced yet, Viv thought.

Vanessa walked over to the corner table where Viv sat alone. She took the seat across from her, her expression as if she was studying Viv's face.
"Vause, tonight I want to meet Jack. Can you please help me arrange something? ... It's been a week since I've seen him," Vanessa insisted.

"If you want to see him, do it yourself. I'm not involved," Viv deadpanned, suppressing her contempt at facing a cheater.

"Why, Alex? ... You helped me before, right? ... I think we're friends, and it's a friend's duty to help ea—" Vanessa rambled, reaching out to touch Viv's hand.

"First of all, don't call me Alex. Second, we're not friends," Viv replied flatly, locking eyes with her. "And it seems like you haven't even divorced your husband yet..."

Vanessa's expression turned surprised and confused, her eyes darting around. Viv wasn't done.
"You have a newborn, right?"

Vanessa froze, unable to process what she just heard, let alone respond.

"How is your vagina even still fuckable, huh? ... Or do you just squirt your milk on him?" Viv growled, loud enough for the people around to hear every word.

Vanessa's face burned with humiliation, fear, and shame. She couldn't control her tears and bolted away, sobbing.

Viv's face stayed gloomy, as if she had just vented all her pent-up anger from the past tiring days.

Unfortunately for her — or perhaps fortunately — C.O. Miller, a disgusting pervert who held a grudge against Viv, had overheard the "interesting conversation" between her and Vanessa. The worst part? He was now planning his revenge, without realizing that this was exactly what Viv wanted.

"Vause, you spoke a little loudly," he said as he ran his hand over Viv's shoulder.

"My apologies," Viv replied, deadpan.

"If so, you'd better put some more calories on that skeleton body of yours," he whispered, then leaned closer. "So you have enough strength to moan—"

Before he could finish, Viv grabbed his wrist and slammed him to the ground. Miller groaned, bloodshot eyes glaring up at her.
"How dare you, inmate... Oughhh..."

Everyone gathered to watch. Viv stared at Miller, then smirked before speaking in an innocent voice.
"Pardon me, sir... I'm dyslexic... I misread the rules and thought it said I could hit a C.O.," she replied slyly.

Other C.O.s rushed in, grabbing Viv and cuffing her hands behind her back. One of them looked at her with unreadable eyes and said:
"Alexine Vause — throw her in SHU."

Finally, some peace, Viv thought, her face relaxing as she followed the C.O.s to the van.