The moment they stepped inside, they were greeted by a pungent odor of trash. The floor was littered with discarded takeout containers that hadn't been disposed of. With it being summer, many had developed mold, presenting a disgusting sight.

Nicole had never encountered such dirt in a living space before.

The elderly lady exclaimed in frustration, "Good heavens! She appears so neat outside, yet she lives like this!"

Nicole covered her nose and went to Melissa's bedroom.

The bedroom was plain and somewhat cleaner than the rest of the apartment, but still far from tidy.

Then, something in the room caught Nicole's eye.

Finding her own photo in Melissa's bedroom caught Nicole completely off guard. It was conspicuously placed on the table, marked with curses targeting her.

This only deepened Nicole's belief that Melissa was actually Jamie in disguise. There was no other explanation for Melissa's vehement curses if they truly were strangers without past grievances.

Outside, the elderly woman was angrily chanting curses that abruptly ended with a sharp scream. "Ah! Blood! Ahhh!"

Nicole, alarmed by the scream, rushed outside and traced it to the bathroom. There, she found Melissa, who had been missing for days, lying in a bloodied bathtub.

The bathtub was gradually filling with water from a dripping faucet, reaching just below Melissa's lips. Had Nicole arrived any later, Melissa would have been submerged and likely drowned.

The scene was both shocking and horrifying, yet Nicole managed to stay composed. She immediately called for police and an ambulance before assisting the elderly woman outside to calm down.

With no place to sit or stand inside, Nicole had the elderly woman sit on the steps, and for comfort, she unbuttoned the elderly woman's shirt before returning inside to check on Jamie, who was still breathing, albeit weakly.

Nicole sensed something off. The circumstances seemed beyond what Jamie could have managed alone. Who would have a motive to harm Jamie so severely?

Nicole had despised Jamie once but couldn't fathom endorsing such brutal retribution. She firmly believed that justice should be served by the law, not through personal vendettas.

Soon after, the authorities arrived, documented the harrowing scene, and paramedics took Jamie away for medical care.

Nicole and the elderly woman then accompanied the police to give their statements.

Meanwhile, at the villa, Alec was updating Jarrod. "Mr. Schultz, your wife first visited an antiquated neighborhood with Officer Castro, and she proceeded to a former colleague's home where an apparent suicide attempt had occurred. She then went with them to the police station to give a statement."

Jarrod's expression remained stoic and unreadable.

Alec pressed on, concerned, “Should I look into this further? I suspect she might be involved in something questionable."