Confession under the crown of thorns

Midnight Digging 03:33 AM**

The sound of a wheelchair rolling over the pebbles along the lake shore was like the cracking of bones. Old Rockefeller's silver cane plunged into the damp sand, and the moment the tip touched the metal, the entire lake surface instantly formed spiderweb-like ice patterns.

"Come out, Elizabeth," the old man murmurs into the void, his cane hooking the bronze ship's bell that has lain at the lake bottom for thirty years. As the bell breaks the surface, the iron chain suspending the bell's clapper suddenly snaps—where the clapper should be, a shriveled human heart is bound, its surface covered in crystalline salt frost. The ice reflected two old Rockefellers: the one in the wheelchair was trembling as he untied the chain; but in the reflection, he was young and strong, forcing the still-beating heart into the girl's chest—it was the stormy night of 1893, when eighteen-year-old Margaret screamed on the deck. Synchronized Heartbeat 03:47 AM

The moment the shriveled heart touched the air, a dull "thud" shook the entire lakeshore. The gold pocket watch in the old man's arms suddenly opened on its own, displaying the paused countdown from Victoria's side:

**07:13:00**

**07:12:59**

**07:12:58**

— perfectly synchronized with the heartbeat. More terrifyingly, when moonlight hit the salt crystals on the heart's surface, the crystals began to reorganize, gradually forming the outline of a miniature soul-binding mirror. Three scenes flashed through the mirror:

1. William standing before the mirrored altar in the graveyard

2. Emily's metallic birthmark reflecting an unfamiliar room

3. Victoria's wound oozing thorned rose vines Salt frost code 04:12 AM

The salt frost on the heart's surface fell in a shower, spelling out nautical coordinates on the wheelchair's armrest. As the old man examined them with a magnifying glass, he was suddenly pulled into a vision:

In the captain's cabin on April 15, 1893, his younger self is stabbing Elizabeth in the back with a dagger. But the girl who should have died suddenly turns her head—that face is clearly Emily's!

"You've mistaken the sacrificial offering," Elizabeth laughs lightly in the illusion. "Margaret is the key." " In reality, a blood vessel suddenly burst from the heart, piercing the old man's wrist. His skin immediately bore the same rose tattoo as Victoria's, but the thorns now wrapped around a key. Forced Contract 04:44 AM

As the old man struggled to shake off the heart, the ship's bell suddenly bellowed with a deafening roar. The inner walls of the bell displayed the terms of the contract written in blood: In the name of Rockefeller: **

Each generation must sacrifice a female relative** Those who violate this will have the time in the mirror revoked"**

The signature was five fingerprints—four of which had dried and turned black, while the latest one was still moist, its contours perfectly matching Victoria's. At that moment, all the ice on the lake shattered simultaneously, forming the outline of a ghost ship. Thirteen Rockefeller women wearing black veils stood on the deck, with Margaret at the front holding a pocket watch—inside, there were no hands, only a melting eyeball.