Later, when the shipwreck was investigated, it was discovered that someone had deliberately steered the vessel straight into the reefs.

“A misfortune upon our family,” my father said, his face showing shame.

“I never thought the prophecy would come true. Isabella, just for fun, took a shipload of people to crash into the rocks and die.”

“The Princess Mary cost a fortune to build. We had no choice but to repair her and keep using her. Besides, we’d already hired people to perform rites for the dead back then.”

“Master, surely this has nothing to do with that ghost?”

Master Gregory turned his gaze toward the underworld.

The next moment, blood tears streamed from his eyes, as though a vengeful spirit had possessed him.

“If it were just a sinking, there wouldn’t be such deep resentment, nor would it target Miss Moore and the three bridesmaids!”

“Victor Moore, you still won’t tell the truth?”

My father lowered his head.

“I did lie. It was disgraceful, so our whole family kept silent.”

“That year, Evelyn and her three closest friends were also on board. If Isabella hadn’t ordered them to throw her into the sea as a joke, she might never have survived.”

“Sisters turning on each other… what a sin.”

My parents even spoke these words with a tinge of regret.

“If we’d known earlier, we should have driven her out of the Moore family…”

“To be honest, Evelyn has suffered nightmares all these years, and even her blessed fertility was destroyed by the freezing seawater.”

“Looking back now, it’s all her sister’s fault! She must be jealous of Evelyn in the afterlife.”

At those words, Adrian Lancaster’s entire aura dropped to a freezing chill.

“Well… well.”

“If I can’t slay the evil spirit and avenge Evelyn, I swear I am no man!”

He held my sister’s hand tenderly.

“With me here, I won’t let you suffer even the slightest grievance.”

But Master Gregory cut in coldly.

“No.”

At some point, he had already led everyone to the bottom of the ship.

The sight before them made every face go pale.

A skeleton lay on the ground, stark and white.

Its bones were covered with bite marks and fractures, clear signs of severe torment before death.

“This is the body with the greatest resentment!”

Master Gregory turned to my parents.

“Do you recognize it?”

“You must tell the truth. A ghost’s true name is its life-gate—without it, there’s no way to catch them.”

My parents clenched their fists, their eyes filled with struggle.

Just then, the scent of blood from the lounge drifted in, breaking their hesitation.

My mother sighed. “For the Moore family’s reputation, we couldn’t dare speak.”

“This skeleton is Isabella’s. She ran away with several crew members, and we only found out she had died after the ship was salvaged. The coroner’s report said… she willingly had relations with more than ten men before…”

She trailed off, too ashamed to continue.

My father snorted. “The Moore family has always taught our children to be discreet and self-respecting—how did we end up with such a disgrace?”

But Master Gregory still shook his head.

“That’s not her. This ghost is definitely not Isabella Moore. Who is she really?”

My father turned away in silence.

My mother wept, her eyes filled with both pain and helplessness.

Adrian Lancaster helped my weary father to his feet and said gravely, “Do you have a reason you can’t speak, Father-in-law? Evelyn and I have been married for ten years—no matter what happens, I’ll never leave her.”

My father was deeply moved.

“With those words, I can rest assured handing Evelyn to you.”

“In truth, the one who died back then wasn’t Isabella, but her younger sister, Evelyn Moore.”

His thoughts drifted back to ten years ago.

“On the eve of her wedding, Evelyn suddenly fell seriously ill and was bedridden. After discussion, we decided to have Isabella disguise herself as Evelyn to marry in her place, planning to swap them back later.”

“But we never imagined Evelyn would be assaulted by a group of crew members and then caught in the shipwreck. Afraid the Lancaster family would reject the marriage, we kept it a secret.”

“Now, seeing how affectionate you two are as a married couple, holding a wedding every year—what does it matter whether the one who married into the Lancaster family was Evelyn or not?”

Adrian Lancaster nodded, his eyes brimming with devotion.

Master Gregory suddenly understood. “No wonder I couldn’t summon the soul.”

“Now, all we need to do is follow Evelyn Moore’s spirit, find the place where her resentment has gathered, and break the curse.”

The group walked deeper into the ship’s cabin—only to freeze in place.

Master Gregory stared at the scattered piles of bones on the floor, his voice hoarse.

“This… this is a sign of a hundred ghosts locked in slaughter! There must be a formation here designed to refine a vengeful spirit!”

“So that’s it… that’s it. Evelyn Moore has become a vengeful spirit nourished by a hundred ghosts. When she fully forms into human shape at dawn today, she will kill the primary culprit—Miss Isabella Moore!”

At his words, my parents’ expressions darkened.

My sister’s lower body suddenly tore apart, expelling a string of blood bubbles.

Looking closely, each bubble bore human-like facial features.

“Ah—Evelyn, little sister, please let me go! If I give birth to ninety-nine children, I won’t survive! I was wrong, I was wrong…”

She trembled with hysteria, her eyes darting wildly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t haunt me. Since you’re dead, let go of this world—I’ll take care of our parents and Adrian, you can rest in peace.”

Hovering in midair, I felt nothing but bitter irony.

After hearing the prophecy, my parents decided my sister was the blessed daughter who would protect the family, pampering her like a princess.

To them, I was the drought demon who would ruin the Moores—a curse they despised to their core.

They pored over dictionaries to give my sister the perfect name, Isabella Moore.

Mine, Evelyn Moore, was meant to erase and conceal all traces—“to go away.”

No one in the Moore family ever wanted me to exist.

While my sister rode in luxury cars to elite private schools, I was locked in a cramped storage space under the stairs, never seeing the light of day.

I wasn’t even allowed the chance to learn to read.

From childhood, whenever business took a downturn, my parents would beat me until I vomited blood.

To show their devotion to “eliminating the curse,” I was never given medical treatment.

My right wrist was left permanently crippled.

I never thought I’d live to twenty, much less that the Lancaster family would specifically request me to treat Adrian Lancaster’s illness.

It was only after meeting Adrian that I learned life could be different.

He taught me to write, to use a smartphone, and even promised to take me traveling around the world.

I still remember—the day Adrian stood up on his own was the same day I found out I was pregnant.

Overjoyed, he proposed to me.

“Evelyn, having you in this life is a blessing I earned over three lifetimes. Give me a chance to defy fate for you.”

He went directly to my parents to propose, swiftly moving my household registration out of the Moore family.

He said he wanted to build a small home just for the two of us.

I believed him completely.

Until, ten years later, when we met again—he and my sister were celebrating yet another annual wedding, honoring their “true love.”

Even if Adrian had once loved me to the bone, even if he had risked his life for me three times,

ten years was enough to wash away any love.

He gave my sister a child,

and forgot the two unborn children from ten years ago.

By the time I returned to my senses, the others had already cleared away the debris.

The bones lay cold, falling to the floor in a heap like a mountain.

Seeing the scene, everyone’s pupils shrank sharply.

“What is this? How could it be so sinister?”

The bones on the ground were arranged in a bizarre pattern,

as if a hundred ghosts were hunting a single victim.

At the very center, a formation was painted in pitch-black blood.

At the sight of it, my parents panicked.

“We personally inspected the cruise ship and saw no such formation! And these bones…”

Master Gregory drew in a sharp breath and hurried to leave.

“Today, everyone will be sacrificed to the formation,” Master Gregory declared.

“And the first will be Isabella Moore! The rest of you had better pray for yourselves. The resentment here is too strong—I can’t help you!”

As his words fell, Isabella let out a rasping, choking sound.

A thin red line appeared around her neck, tightening with each passing moment.

Thinking of her three friends who’d been beheaded, she scrambled forward on her hands and knees, throwing herself at Master Gregory’s feet.

“Master, please save me!”

“I can’t breathe—next, she’s going to strangle me to death!”

My parents tried to remain calm. “As long as you’re willing to save her, we can give you half the Moore family’s assets for free!”

Master Gregory sighed. “Forget it. We’re in international waters now, and I can’t leave. The only solution is to lure Evelyn Moore out and set a trap. But who has the courage to do that?”

“I do.”

Adrian Lancaster, having arranged for a doctor to treat my sister, stepped forward.

His tall figure radiated a sense of security.

“No matter whether you are Evelyn or Isabella, you are the woman I, Adrian Lancaster, have loved with my life! If someone wants to harm you, I’ll make sure she never returns!”

“The vengeful spirit Evelyn Moore only bears resentment because she was jealous of my marrying my sister. So before dawn today, I’ll guard Isabella—she’s bound to show up for revenge!”

My parents exchanged a glance and finally relaxed.

My sister, as if already saved, kissed him in gratitude.

“Adrian, I’m so glad I still have you. You must protect me for the rest of my life.”

His fingers brushed over the bruises on her neck, his gaze full of pity.

“Don’t be afraid. You’ve suffered enough. From here on, you have me.”

Through that more mature, handsome face, I could still faintly see the young man from ten years ago—

When floodwaters raged, he used every ounce of strength to lift me above the waves, leaving himself with a chronic cough.

When enemies came for revenge, he shielded me from a fatal blow, his left hand never able to hold a pen again.

When flames roared, he covered me with his back, leaving a terrible scar.

But ten years had passed. He no longer belonged to me.

He wouldn’t even step around my bones without disgust—he would rather see me destroyed completely.

Master Gregory drew formation lines in every guest room.

Adrian never left my sister’s side.

When she was too afraid to sleep, he gently patted her and the babies in her belly, singing her a lullaby.

In the past, I had begged him to sing to me a few times, but he had always dodged the request.

I once thought he was just shy—now I knew he simply never wanted to sing for me.

At four in the morning, with dawn approaching, my sister finally drifted off to sleep.

Only then did he quietly tuck her in.

“Don’t worry, Evelyn—I’ll protect you forever.”

“I’ll help you change your fate.”

Everyone said Adrian was certain to succeed this time.

Once he got rid of me, he would hold the eleventh, twelfth, and more weddings with my sister, declaring their love to the world.

But they didn’t know—

Adrian had been waiting for this day for ten years.

At dawn, the blood-red light blazed.

Everyone was on high alert, ready to capture the vengeful spirit.

All the bones had been moved outside, bathed in the crimson sunlight, exuding an ominous aura.

Suddenly, a scream unlike any human voice came from the most luxurious room.

My parents, panicked, rushed inside, but the sight made them instinctively take several steps back.

“Mr. Lancaster, what are you doing? What have you done?!”

The stench of blood filled the air.

The expensive hardwood floor was soaked with dark, filthy blood, strewn with chunks of flesh.

My sister’s limbs, covered in knife wounds, were bound, and she hung suspended outside the window.

This was the deep sea—sharks, drawn by the scent of blood, had been circling for some time.