After I resign from my job as a forensic pathologist and return to my rural hometown to enjoy a laidback, leisurely life, I feel totally at peace. In contrast, my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart, Jessica Lester, starts panicking for real.

She keeps begging me to stay. "Dr. Gardner, even though you're not that talented, I still hope you can stand beside me and speak up for those who have died unjustly!"

I roll my eyes coolly and leave without looking back.

In my previous life, Jessica is an intern put under my care. But every time we conduct an autopsy, she watches from the side but somehow manages to describe the victim's experiences before death ahead of me. She even uses wording that is identical to what I am thinking.

I cannot make sense of it. In later autopsies, I give everything and go all out to prove myself, but even when she is not present, she can still iterate my findings at length.

From then on, everyone idolizes her. Meanwhile, I become a laughingstock even if I am the most authoritative forensic expert in the state.

Later on, the enraged family members of victims come to my doorstep every day. They lambast me and say that I am unworthy of being a forensic pathologist. They eventually set my house on fire, and I die miserably in the flames.

When I open my eyes again, I return to the day I take Jessica to her first autopsy.

"Dr. Gardner, everything's ready. We can begin the autopsy."

A soft, delicate voice sounded next to my ear. My hand that was holding the scalpel paused, and I snapped back to my senses.

I turned my head and met the expectant gaze of my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart, Jessica Lester, who was currently also my intern.

Then, I looked at the severely decomposed, headless male corpse on the autopsy table. That was when I became certain that I had gone back in time and had a second shot at life.

"Why are you spacing out, Dr. Gardner? Why aren't you making the first cut?" Jessica urged me to get on with my work when she noticed that I was in a daze.

I stared straight at her before requesting to switch to a different autopsy assistant.

In my previous life, the autopsy today had been the turning point in both my fate and Jessica's.

It had been her first time assisting in an autopsy. All she needed to do was stand by and observe me while handing me tools when necessary.

What I never could have expected was that after I finished the autopsy and was about to report my findings to my superiors, Jessica spoke before I could. She laid out the cause of death and what the victim had experienced before death exactly the same as what I had worded in my mind.

However, she hadn't even performed the dissection. Logically speaking, there was no way she could have known such detailed information about the victim's death.

Some people thought she was just talking nonsense to draw attention. Even the chief coroner, Bruce Wilkinson, asked me whether what she said was true.

I had been completely bewildered, but I nodded gingerly.

The moment I confirmed Jessica's statement, there was an uproar in the room. Everyone was stunned and didn't know what to make of it.

After that, Jessica would just stand by and watch during every autopsy. Again, she could speak at length about everything.

She even openly declared, "I have the ability to communicate with the dead. For me, the way to speak for the deceased is never through an autopsy. Cutting their bodies up again is undoubtedly doing harm to them for a second time."

From then on, rumors about Jessica's ability to speak with the dead spread like wildfire.

I couldn't understand, and I refused to accept it. But no matter how many times I tried to prove myself, Jessica would always announce all of my conclusions before I could even open my mouth.

She became famous, and her reputation skyrocketed. Before her one-year internship was even over, she was promoted to a forensic pathologist ahead of time.

Meanwhile, people scorned and despised me. I, the PhD expert from a top university, was reduced to a laughingstock.

Later, an enraged family member of a victim set fire and burned me to death.

Thinking of everything from my past life, I clenched my jaw and made up my mind that I would get to the bottom of all this!

When I suddenly proposed switching assistants, Jessica was, of course, unwilling to comply.

She pouted pitifully and brought up my boyfriend, Maddox Carr, to pressure me. "But Dr. Gardner, Mads—"

"He doesn't get to decide how things are done in the coroner's office," I cut her off firmly.

Though Jessica was highly reluctant, she had no choice but to leave the autopsy room. She had only been an intern for a month. So, she hadn't been qualified enough to participate in this autopsy.

Back then, it was Maddox, the captain of the criminal investigation team, who had kept urging me to take her under my wing. Considering that she was under my care and my only intern, I had relented and agreed to let her join the autopsy.

Watching Jessica, who was now only able to stand at the doorway and observe, I quietly let out a sigh of relief.

I still didn't know why she was always able to say all my deductions and conclusions before me. But I figured that if I kept her away, she wouldn't be able to plagiarize my work. Only then did I feel at ease enough to begin the autopsy.

An hour later, I took the completed autopsy report with me and was about to present it.

But when I projected my report onto the screen, everyone present frowned.

"Why is Dr. Gardner's report exactly the same as what Jessica described verbally five minutes ago?"

"I thought Jessica was just talking nonsense…"

The murmurs of confusion around me made me freeze in apprehension.

I gripped the report tightly in my hands. When I came back to my senses, I noticed Jessica sitting in the corner.

I had already sent her away. How could she still know the results of my autopsy?

Confused, I blurted out instinctively, "Jessica, you didn't participate in the autopsy or see the condition of the body. How did you know the detailed contents of the report in advance?"

Everyone in the conference room turned to look at her.

Jessica stood up and spoke calmly. "The reason I chose to become a forensic pathologist is actually that I have a special ability. I can communicate with the dead and know everything they experienced before death. Dr. Gardner, your report is the best proof of that."

She appeared composed, but her words caused an uproar.

"I thought Jessica was making things up. I didn't expect her words to match Dr. Gardner's exactly!"

"Imogen is the most authoritative forensic expert in the state. Her autopsy can't be wrong. So, that means Jessica's ability must be the real deal!"

"This is unbelievable! If it's true, her ability could render forensic autopsies redundant…"

Bruce looked intently at me for confirmation. Although I didn't respond, my silence said everything. Even my boyfriend, Maddox, looked at Jessica as if he had just discovered a priceless treasure.

I couldn't focus on the rest of the meeting at all. One burning question bothered me to no end—could Jessica really have a supernatural ability?

After the meeting ended, Jessica walked over to me and asked, "Dr. Gardner, you're not going to blame me for taking your credit, are you?"

I looked up and met her innocent, smiling gaze.

I asked again, "Do you truly have the ability to communicate with the dead? Or did you use some kind of trick?"

My sharp question caused an aggrieved look to appear in her eyes. "Of course. Otherwise, how could I know everything so clearly? Dr. Gardner, I understand that you may have difficulty accepting my talent, but you can't just slander me."

Just as I was about to press further, Maddox returned to the conference room.

He scolded me sternly, "Jess is a newcomer. Don't bully her, Imogen. There are many things in this world that are unexplainable. Just because you can't accept it doesn't mean it doesn't exist! Is it really that hard to acknowledge someone else's excellence?"

After saying that, Maddox pulled Jessica along and left with her.

I refused to believe that someone would have such an extraordinary talent that bordered on a miracle. If Jessica were truly that capable, she should have long built up a reputation for herself.

After returning home, I carefully went over everything from my past life and searched online for clues.

Suddenly, my gaze landed on a post. Could this be Jessica's secret?

The next day, I walked over to Jessica's desk as soon as I arrived at the coroner's office.

Smiling warmly, I handed her a cup of coffee. "Sorry, Jessica. I was a bit emotional yesterday. I apologize for that. I hope you won't take what I said to heart."

Jessica cheerfully accepted the coffee. "I won't! You're my idol, Dr. Gardner. I admire you so much. How could I be mad at you?"

I chatted with her for quite a while, showering her with praise. While she was clearly delighted by my flattery, I was tearing her apart in my mind.

I thought furiously, "I don't believe it! You must be using some shady trick! You're really good at pretending, aren't you, Jessica? You're just a hypocritical thief! With skills like yours, you're nothing but a fraud!"

As I criticized her internally, I kept my eyes fixed on her facial expressions.

The reason I did this was because I had seen a post about mind-reading the night before. My sudden friendliness today was just a test to see whether Jessica had the ability to read minds.

But no matter how much I insulted her in my thoughts, there wasn't any change in her expression at all. She still looked absolutely pleased. There wasn't any sort of flaw in her expression.

"Jessica, did you hear anything?" I asked.

"No," she replied.

My test yielded nothing, so I could only return to my office in dismay.

Her phrasing was exactly the same as mine. The only logical explanation for her being able to do that was that she could read minds.

Yesterday, she looked aggrieved and cornered with just a couple of questions from me. Today, she showed no reaction at all despite all my sarcastic thoughts earlier.

Maybe I really was overthinking it.

I decided not to dwell on it anymore. As long as I focused on doing my job as a forensic pathologist, that should be enough.

But I had been too naive in thinking that.

The story of Jessica's ability to communicate with the dead had already spread. While she was being praised, many families who had previously been forced to agree to autopsies in order to find the truth began coming to me to cause trouble.

They accused me of deliberately ruining the bodies of the already pitiful victims when someone like Jessica existed in our office.

"It's all because of the heartless Dr. Gardner! She tricked us into agreeing to an autopsy. My son's body is all cut up after his death!"

"I can't believe they call her an authoritative expert. I think she's just a sick butcher who cuts people apart!"

"I heard that Dr. Lester, who can find the truth without autopsies, has been here for a long time. It's Imogen Gardner who's been preventing her from speaking for the dead and insisting on doing autopsies herself. She just wants to ruin the bodies of those poor victims!"

Everyone had something to say about this. The rumors online grew increasingly outrageous.

Fortunately, Bruce stepped in and managed to calm things down. However, Jessica had caught the attention of the state TV station, and they invited her for an interview.

No sooner had she left than a body was discovered and brought to us.

This time, the victim was a female student. Her body had been dismembered so severely that it was almost impossible to piece her together.

This caused widespread public panic. The victim's parents had been crying outside the police station all day. This put the police under immense pressure, which led the police chief to set a three-day deadline to solve the case. The criminal investigation team was overwhelmed.

Bruce urged me to speed up the autopsy report. "Imogen, the public has a negative impression of you lately. It just so happens Jessica isn't here this time, so I hope you can prove yourself. Otherwise, your career is going to suffer in the future, and I may not be able to shield you every time."

I agreed.

But when I prepared to begin the autopsy, the victim's family made a scene at the door. They wouldn't allow it no matter what. They even shouted that they wanted Jessica to communicate with the dead from afar instead.

Bruce and I spent a full hour persuading them before they finally agreed.

After working nonstop for three hours, I completed the autopsy and obtained the results.

But just then, Jessica returned. She walked straight past me and went to the victim's parents.

She bowed deeply and said, "I'm sorry. I came too late. Your daughter died between 1:00 and 2:00 am last night. Before her death, she was assaulted by multiple people. Because she had resisted fiercely during the assault, they brutally dismembered her when she was alive.

"If I had come back earlier, maybe she wouldn't have had to go through another round of having her body cut up…"

As I listened to Jessica, goosebumps rose all over my arms, and my body trembled slightly.

Once again, she had stated the exact results of my autopsy. It was identical to what I had been about to say, word for word.