Woke up to find malware Chrome extension 'Reader Mode' re-installed itself overnight. How do I block this POS malware?

Windows 11 Home version 24H2. OS Build 26100.2605 AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics. 32 GB RAM.

Will be moving to Firefox Browser very soon, but in the meantime would like to block this extension. Not sure what's up with this: It's been widely publicized as being malware, and was purportedly removed from the Chrome Web Store, but when I check the Store, it's listed and even featured. Ran Windows Defender and removed what it found, then an offline Defender scan which found nothing more.

I no longer trust Malwarebytes: aside from the constant nag screens, it literally installed the Premium Trial on me, without asking permission. Is Bitdefender Free the best alternative? Trying to download Kaspersky nets me a "Blocked in the USA" screen, and I am not going to dick around with bypassing that.

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Edit: I had Reader Mode installed for a couple of years, removed it over a month ago when the notice it was malware was published, ran Windows Defender, cleaned out Chrome and reset it. So waking up today with a webpage from Reader Mode on my browser was unsettling. I'm hoping Bitdefender Free will add a layer of protection to prevent stuff like this, and 32 GB RAM should handle it.