I was a highly paid hydrology expert, recruited by the corpse retrieval team for my specialized skills.

After staying up for an entire day and night without rest, I finally calculated the likely location of the drowning victim. But just as I was about to announce my findings, my stepsister rushed over and loudly declared the same conclusion before I could speak.

Everyone around us was stunned.

Then, to everyone’s shock, she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me and burst into tears.

“Sis,” she sobbed, “you wouldn't let me use my spiritual abilities to help find the body. But I just couldn’t stand to see you extorting the victim's family, dragging things out on purpose just to get more money.”

“I swear I’ll never do it again. Please, don’t hit me this time, okay?”

Gasps erupted from the crowd. Right then and there, the retrieval team dismissed me on the spot.

The victim’s family, furious and heartbroken, swarmed me and took turns beating me in a rage.

Bruised and bloodied, I turned to my boyfriend for help—but instead, he coldly said I was heartless and unworthy of being human. He broke up with me in front of everyone.

I barely managed to escape home, only to find the doors locked. My father had issued a public statement disowning me.

Online, I was vilified. The hate was endless. Some radical netizens even went so far as to dig up my mother’s grave and throw her urn into the river.

[If Leizl is such an expert in water,” one of them mocked, “she can go fish out her mother’s ashes herself.]

I searched the riverbanks in despair, day after day, trying to find her remains.

Until one day, a group of strangers knocked me unconscious and threw me into the river, where I drowned.

When I opened my eyes again—I was back.

Back to that very day on the riverbank, before everything went wrong.

——

“Thank goodness you’re here, Miss Leizl.”

A familiar voice sounded right behind me.

“With your help, we’ll definitely find the body this time.”

Snapping out of my daze, I suddenly realized—I had been reborn.

The captain was still introducing me enthusiastically to everyone nearby. “This is Leizl Edwards, our hydrology expert. Whenever we’ve had a tough case or couldn’t locate a victim, she’s the one who helped us pull through.”

The team members all looked at me with hope in their eyes.

Then the captain turned to the victim’s family. “We paid thirty thousand dollars to bring in this expert. This time, we’re confident we’ll find your son.”

Among the grieving family was an elderly woman with snow-white hair—the victim’s mother.

She collapsed to her knees and wept bitterly. “Expert, please, I’m begging you. Help me find my son.”

“He had such a hard life... even now, in death, he deserves to be buried in peace.”

“You don’t know... these past few nights, I’ve dreamed of him soaked in water, crying to me, saying how cold it is down there...”

“It’s been seven days. We still haven’t found his body. If you can bring my boy back to me, I’ll kneel and thank you forever.”

I quickly helped the old woman up, a storm of emotions brewing in my chest.

In my past life, she had also knelt to plead with me like this.

But when my stepsister falsely accused me of extorting the family, she had been the first to lead the charge—bringing her whole family to beat me senseless.

I could still feel the bruises, all the pain. It all felt like it had just happened yesterday.

As I stood there in silence, my boyfriend, Darius, walked over and said in a low voice, “Leizl, is it not enough money? Thirty thousand dollars should be fine—don’t push it.”

His words sent a chill through me.

In my previous life, I had trusted Darius completely. I never imagined he would betray me.

But during the online witch hunt, he had only fueled the flames. When my mother’s ashes were desecrated, he even said I deserved it.

After experiencing the pain and horror of that life, I was no longer blinded by so-called love. I instantly realized something was wrong with his tone.

He was already starting to plant seeds of doubt—quietly implying to everyone that I was greedy and heartless.

Sure enough, I saw the looks from those around me begin to shift. Suspicion and disapproval gleamed in their eyes.

Even the members of the corpse retrieval team began whispering among themselves.

"Even for an expert, charging thirty thousand dollars is a bit much, don’t you think? Leizl is getting greedy.”

"Making money off the dead... how does she even sleep at night?”

"If it weren’t for her skills, no one would hire her at all.”

The team captain frowned slightly and said to me, “Miss Leizl, we agreed on the price beforehand. Asking for more now doesn’t seem right.”

I replied coldly, “Did I say I was raising the price?”

The captain was stunned.

At that moment, the elderly woman was already on her knees again, clutching my clothes desperately. “Expert, I’m willing to sell my house. Just name your price. Even if I have to borrow the money, I’ll get it to you.”

It was as if she feared I would walk away if she couldn’t pay enough.

I took a deep breath and gently helped her up. “I will help you,” I said softly, “but I need you to agree to one condition.”

Immediately, Darius chimed in beside me, “Leizl, they’ve just lost a loved one. Isn’t that tragic enough? Don’t make outrageous demands right now.”

I shot him a cold glance. “Shut up.”

Darius froze, staring at me in disbelief.

“What’s wrong with you today, Leizl?” he asked, clearly shaken. “Why are you talking to me like this?”

I ignored him and pulled the old woman aside to speak with her privately.

A few minutes later, she gave me a conflicted but determined nod.

I left her and walked toward the river, gazing at the churning waters, lost in thought.

In my previous life, just as I had finished calculating the results, my stepsister rushed in, claiming she could speak to the dead. She said the victim’s soul had guided her to the location of the body.

It was nonsense—every word of it. I didn’t believe a single thing.

But what stood out was that when she described the location, she used several technical hydrology terms—terms I used frequently.

My stepsister had no background in hydrology. So where had she learned those terms?

That’s when it hit me.

She must have stolen my conclusion.

But how?

I knew the answer would be key. If I couldn’t figure out how she did it, she would ruin me again in this life—just like last time.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something—and the realization struck me like lightning.

Whenever I analyzed water flow patterns, I entered all my data into my laptop. With its help, I could accurately calculate the likely location of the body.

That laptop was always with me—sometimes at work, sometimes at home.

If my stepsister had installed spyware while I had the laptop at home, she could’ve easily monitored everything I did in real time.

The moment I finished my calculations, she could have dashed in and announced them first, pretending they were hers.

Realizing this, I immediately shut down the laptop, picked up a pen and paper, and began calculating manually.

Darius, watching from the side, looked annoyed. “Leizl, everyone is waiting for you. Why are you doing this by hand? You’re just wasting time.”

I glanced at him and asked sharply, “Darius, are you trying to disrupt my work on purpose?”

He looked genuinely hurt. “Why are you being so harsh to me today?”

I didn’t answer, and continued with my calculations.

After all, a computer was just a tool—so was pen and paper.

For a true hydrology expert, what a computer could calculate, I could derive by hand.

Half an hour later, I had precisely located where the body should be.

I let out a sigh of relief, raised the sheet of paper, and began walking toward the victim’s family.

But before I could speak, a panting voice shouted from the distance, "The victim is located three kilometers downstream. He's tangled in aquatic plants and drifting at approximately two meters per second!”

I was stunned.

It was my stepsister—Lesley.

Just like in my previous life, she confidently announced the very same conclusion I had just finished calculating.

Facing the astonished crowd, she declared, “I can communicate with the dead. I heard the victim’s spirit calling to me earlier. Hurry—go now!”

Then she turned to me and dramatically fell to her knees, sobbing.

“Sis, I just couldn’t stand by and watch you delay things on purpose—extorting money from the victim’s family.”

“I swear, I’ll never sabotage your work again. Please don’t hit me this time, okay?”

I clutched the piece of paper in my hand, frozen in shock and disbelief.

Why?

Why was she still able to steal my results?

The crowd was already in an uproar.

Some bystanders even picked up clumps of mud and threw them at me.

“Tch. What expert?! Feeding off the dead like a leech—how disgusting!”

“What agency does she work for? I’m going to report her!”

Just then, Darius stepped in front of me, trying to calm the furious mob.

“Everyone, please. Let’s not jump to conclusions. What Lesley said might not be true. I believe Leizl is innocent.”

But before he could finish, the voice of a team member crackled through the walkie-talkie—excited and breathless.

“Captain! We found him! Exactly three kilometers downstream—just like the girl who said she could talk to spirits described!”

That sealed it.

To the onlookers, this was undeniable proof: Lesley could communicate with the dead.

Cheers erupted around her as she was lifted to the center of the crowd like a hero.

The captain, eyes brimming with tears, bowed repeatedly to her. “Thank you, thank you!”

The elderly woman even dropped to her knees and knocked her head against the ground in gratitude.

Only Darius turned to face me, disappointment darkening his expression.

“Leizl... were you really trying to extort money from a grieving family?”

Before I could even deny it, he continued sharply, “I get it now. No wonder you didn’t use your laptop and insisted on calculating by hand.”

“You were trying to stall for time—drag things out just long enough for the family to get desperate and agree to your price hike. Weren’t you?”

His words were like fuel to a wildfire.

The crowd, now fully convinced, clenched their fists in rage.

To them, if Lesley’s powers were real, then my crime must also be real.

They surged forward, pushing Darius aside with ease and surrounding me completely.

They wanted to beat the “soulless expert” who dared to profit off death—to release their fury on me.

The retrieval team did nothing to stop them.

The captain even shook his head at me with disgust. “Miss Leizl, I never thought you’d be this kind of person. I really misjudged you. Tch!”

Just as the first hand was raised to strike me, a police siren wailed in the distance.

The police had arrived.

Luckily, I had quietly called them the moment Lesley appeared. I knew how things would spiral.

Thank heavens they came in time—before the crowd could lay a hand on me.

I fled into the police car, disheveled and humiliated.

The crowd backed off slightly, restrained by the presence of law enforcement.

But then, just as I thought it was over, Darius pointed at me and shouted for everyone to hear.

“Leizl, I can’t believe you’d do something like this—deliberately delaying the rescue just to extort money!”

“Are you even human? You’re not worthy of being my girlfriend. I’m breaking up with you.”

“If you have any conscience left, you’ll get out of that car right now and apologize to the victim’s family!”

“If you just walk away like this, I won’t forgive you!”

His voice reignited the crowd’s fury.

They surrounded the police vehicle again, pounding on the windows, shouting for me to get out and kneel—to beg forgiveness from the grieving family.

Even the officers who rescued me, though they followed protocol and kept me safe, couldn’t hide the scorn in their eyes.

I stayed in the car, expression blank, heart cold.

I said nothing.

I only asked the police to get me out of there—as far away as possible.