Nicole believed that as long as Derek was alive, she still had a chance in the battle over Austin's custody. But this was only one of the reasons she wanted Jarrod to stop beating Derek. Another reason was that she felt Jarrod didn't have the right to give Derek judgment. For her, no matter how evil Derek was, he should be punished by the law. Jarrod had no right to kill Derek arbitrarily as punishment.

Jarrod had always regarded human life as worthless. In his eyes, it was nothing but a plaything he could dispose of at will.

But Nicole was not like him. She respected human life, and she wanted a fair trial for those who sinned. So, even though Derek committed various crimes, she felt he should only be judged by the court.

Nicole's lips trembled. "Jarrod, you..."

But before she could finish her words, Derek suddenly shouted, interrupting her, “It's you! You are that person!"

Jarrod looked at Derek on the ground condescendingly. But Derek's face was so swollen that he could no longer see anything. He didn't know that Jarrod's face was now full of killing intent. He continued to stutter, "You... You are that psychopath!"

At the mention of Jarrod's name, Derek finally recalled the switched sample was for Jarrod. No wonder Jarrod wanted to beat him to death.

If Jarrod wasn't sick, why did he need to change the sample?

Although Derek had no idea how crazy Jarrod had become, he knew about the medicine. Only people who could not control their emotions would take such a drug. Eventually, those people would either go totally insane or become seemingly civilized but violent people. In the end, they would have no choice but to kill to pacify their inner turmoil.

Derek felt he was doomed and announced, "A lunatic like you deserve to die. I shouldn't have changed that sample."

It was just that regret always came last. At this point, there was no use regretting.

Jarrod picked up a stone on the ground, raised his hand, and was about to smash it into Derek's head.

Nicole stepped forward to stop Jarrod, but he forcefully shoved her away out of instinct. Caught off guard, she fell hard to the ground and felt like everything around her had turned black.

In a daze, she seemed to hear someone call her name, "Nicole!" Then, she fell into a coma.

Outside the operating room, Jarrod stood like a tree. He was still covered in blood, and his face was full of worry.

The doctors and nurses came and went, but Jarrod remained unmoved. He stayed in front of the door steadfastly.

Alec had rushed to the hospital when he heard the news. Upon seeing Jarrod's appearance, his heart was overwhelmed by guilt. He knew Jarrod still couldn't let go of Nicole and felt he shouldn't have Derek deal with her. She was just a woman.

As long as Jarrod could keep her in check, what was the big deal?

Since Jarrod loved Nicole dearly, with all the suffering Jarrod had endured in his life, Alec only wanted Jarrod to get what he desired.

If Jarrod really wanted Nicole but could not control her, Alec vowed to be there to offer help. He would always back Jarrod up.