Your take is solid. Cracked EaseUS risks malware, legal trouble, and failed recovery. Not worth it.
Simpler path: try built in versioning. On Windows, open the folder, rigth-click, Restore previous versions. If File History ran, pick a date, hit Restore. On OneDrive or Google Drive, use verison history in the web app, restore the file. On macOS, open Time Machine, pick the snapshot, restore.
Stop writes now. Every write lowers success. If files lived on an HDD, power off, pull it, work from a copy.
If this fails, use a lab with no-recovery-no-fee policy.