Just then, her phone buzzed.

Recognizing the caller ID, Nicole answered with shaking hands, her voice trembling, "I think I've killed someone..."

Suddenly, the car door was yanked open. It was Alec, Jarrod's assistant, who appeared.

Alec took in the bloody spectacle, shock written all over his face as he lifted the unconscious Jarrod, shouting, “Mr. Schultz!"

Nicole was still caught in a haze, mumbling to her phone, “I've killed someone..."

Without warning, Alec abruptly stepped forward, grabbed the phone from Nicole's grasp, and hurled it against the seat. He was filled with loathing for Nicole, wishing he could banish her forever!

Even if Nicole had only accidentally hurt Jarrod, the Schultz family's resources in a legal battle could ensure her punishment.

Yet, Alec was powerless to act against Nicole because Jarrod had explicitly instructed him to safeguard Nicole at all costs. Even if it meant protecting her when he himself was injured.

Alec clenched his jaw and warned, “If you don't want to be taken away, then behave!"

Alec reclined Jarrod's seat, instructed Nicole to sit at the back, and took the wheel himself.

With the seat reclined, Jarrod's visage was just a breath away.

Moonlight cast on his usually stern features made him appear particularly ghostly and still, as though he was lifeless.

This was Nicole's first glimpse of Jarrod in such a weakened state.

Her heart racing, she wanted to check if he was still breathing, but her hand was shaking too much to manage.

The nighttime highway was eerily quiet. The silence inside the car was even more intense than the stillness outside.

Nicole curled up, her thoughts in turmoil. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she had actually stabbed Jarrod in her frenzy.

The moment she saw him drenched in blood, panic set in. A whirlwind of thoughts overtook her, mainly that it might be better if he was gone, putting an end to their shared turmoil. If he was gone, every complication, fixation, and animosity would dissipate.

Nicole even thought, if Jarrod wasn't yet gone, she might find the resolve to strike again.

Yet, when faced with the chance, she discovered, to her dismay, she couldn't follow through.

What she desired was to see Jarrod held accountable, to confess his misdeeds, and to acknowledge the manipulative contract that resulted in her father's demise!