Trying to lift the mood, Raegan offered a reassuring smile. "He's probably caught up with something right now. How about we start dinner first?"

However, Janey firmly shook her head, insisting, "No, I want to wait for daddy. I was looking forward to sharing my favorite meals with him."

Seeing Janey's stubbornness, Raegan tried a different approach, suggesting gently, “Why don't you try a little bit of the shrimp porridge first?"

After a bit of persuasion, Janey finally agreed to eat some porridge without waiting for Mitchel.

Finishing a bowl of porridge, Janey felt almost full. She continued to wait at the table with Raegan, but eventually, the weariness was too much for her.

Janey usually went to bed at 8:30 PM, and now it was already 9:00 PM.

Raegan asked Annis to help Janey to bed and get her settled, while she decided to start cleaning up the table.

But as soon as she lifted a plate, it slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor.

Quickly kneeling to tidy up the mess, Raegan accidentally cut her finger on a sharp piece. Blood started to flow from the cut.

Looking at her injured finger, Raegan felt a sting of pain in her heart and a surge of tears threatened to spill.

Fighting back her tears, she carefully cleaned up the broken pieces.

After that, she was too tired to even think about cleaning the dishes on the table. So, she left them as they were.

Raegan had planned to take a shower and hit the bed when Nicole rang her up, wanting to hang out.

Nicole was curious about what happened to Austin yesterday and felt a call wasn't the best way to discuss it. So the two of them met at a coffee shop.

Settling into their seats, Raegan raised an eyebrow and asked, "How did you manage to get Jarrod to let you out?"

"I'm not locked up. Why wouldn't he let me go?" Nicole answered, avoiding eye contact.

Actually, Jarrod had requested Nicole to help with his bath. In exchange, he agreed to let her meet Raegan. Nicole was genuinely concerned about Austin, leaving her no choice but to accept his term.

Raegan sighed in relief upon hearing this and shared the events that unfolded in Ashfield.

“Sorry, my bad. I should have been more cautious. I mistakenly thought Ashfield was secluded and didn't realize how complex things there could be," Nicole confessed, gripping Raegan's hand tightly.

"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine now. If it weren't for me, the police wouldn't have caught those bad guys." Raegan played a key role in busting the crime ring, and the local cops wanted to reward her.