We present a simple method for the subsurface imaging of a nucleated cell, which is realized by measuring the difference in wrapped phase between a nucleated cell and its enucleated cell model. The latter one called as the reference phase can be simulated according to the axial thickness and the cytoplasmic refractive index. We illustrate the proposed method with theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of a binucleated cell, and prove its validity on real biological cells by imaging the HeLa cell based on its experimental phase. It shows that this method is suitable for imaging of relatively simple nucleated cells.