My Stepsister Claimed She Was Psychic and Stole My Work

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.