I Left the Dead Behind… but His Childhood Sweetheart Didn't

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!