This revelation caught Jarrod off guard. He hadn't anticipated Jamie altering her appearance so dramatically. Jamie's resemblance to Nicole when she first appeared was supposed to be a red flag. At that time, however, his judgment was clouded, his thoughts constantly besieged by the memory of Nicole who feigned death, which blurred his analytical thinking.

The realization that Jamie was still alive shocked Jarrod, and the discovery that she was plotting against him left him even more bewildered. Jamie had a good cause for revenge. After all, he hadn't spared her at that time.

Yet, Alec's ongoing observations at the hospital hinted that the situation was even more intricate than it seemed. It appeared that Jamie wasn't working by herself. There was someone else pulling the strings, someone who had even orchestrated Jamie undergoing surgery to resemble Nicole.

Back when Jamie vanished, she left everything behind and stayed under the radar, which suggested she couldn't have afforded such high-end surgery by herself. Clearly, someone else had financed her transformation. But who could it be? This individual was familiar with both Jamie and how important Nicole was to Jarrod.

Jarrod mulled over the possibilities but, at the moment, he had no concrete leads. However, since the one pulling the strings behind Jamie had made a mistake, uncovering the truth would not be impossible. Yet...

Jarrod glanced at the door, curious about Nicole's decision.

In the kitchen, Nicole observed the housekeeper preparing the hangover soup. As it neared completion, she suggested the housekeeper take a break, assuring the housekeeper that she could handle the rest.

The housekeeper, assuming Nicole would serve the soup to Jarrod herself, left without giving it another thought.

Nicole gazed at the bowl, her mind elsewhere. It wasn't until she reached for it and flinched from the heat that she realized she'd burned herself.

"Ouch!" she murmured, retracting her hand quickly to nurse her burn.

Just then, footsteps approached from behind.

“Are you okay?" Jarrod asked, examining her hand closely. Her fingertips had turned a light pink from the burn.

"I'm fine," Nicole replied, her voice tinged with a nervousness that made her sound less confident than usual.

Silently, Jarrod took her by the hand and guided her to the sink to run cold water over the burn. After that, he fetched a tube of ointment from beneath the table. As he gently applied the ointment, he lightly scolded, “What had you so distracted that you didn't notice the bowl was hot?"

The cool ointment was soothing when applied.

Nicole found herself briefly lost in thought, gazing at her fingertips.

Jarrod remained silent as he finished, waving her hand gently to dry the ointment, ensuring it wouldn't stick.

Watching Jarrod, memories of her parents surfaced in Nicole's mind.

Her parents had shared a profound love. Despite aging, her mother would playfully lament to her father about every minor injury.

Her father cherished her mother and treated her tenderly, creating a nurturing home. Growing up, Nicole was vibrant and joyful, often hearing praises for her parents' warm relationship.