Gaslit by Reality: My True Husband's Gone

When I wake up, I find out that my childhood friend, Brandon Moore, is the one lying next to me instead of my husband, Jake Watson.

Angrily, I berate Brandon for betraying his wife, Rachel Schneider. But he asks me in confusion, "Aren't you my wife? Are you rambling drunken nonsense, or are you having a fever?

"Rachel is already married and has a child of her own. Don't go around pinning the bigamy crime on me for no reason!"

I'm stunned, to say the least. Brandon and Rachel are a loving married couple, and yet here he is, telling me that they aren't married at all.

Just as I'm about to call Brandon a jerk, I raise my head to see the wedding portrait. It features me and Brandon.

Cold sweat soon rolls down my forehead. I ask Brandon tentatively, "Then… do you still remember my husband, Jake Watson?"

In the past, Brandon used to be best friends with Jake. Both families even have a betrothal pact with each other.

But Brandon angrily accuses me of cheating on him with another man. He even claims that he doesn't know Jake at all.

The thing is, Jake and I have been married for ten years. How the hell is it possible for Brandon to not know Jake at all?

Thinking that Brandon is lying to me, I show Jake's photo to my parents and everyone around me. They all tell me that they've never seen Jake before, and they even claim that Brandon is the one I've been married to for ten years.

I refuse to accept this reality, which causes me to go dazed all the time. Gradually, I go crazy overtime. Because of that, Brandon files for a divorce from me. My parents soon admit me into a mental hospital.

After dying a terrible death from the electric therapy, I open my eyes to see that I've returned to the day Brandon becomes my husband.

I forced myself to be calm. My eyes drifted to the wedding photo on the nightstand, and a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"I just think the photo looks a little washed out. We should get it restored. Do you remember where we took it?"

"Honey, how could you forget where we took our wedding photos? You know what? I'll take it in for restoration."

My supposed husband, Brandon Moore, got up and took the framed wedding photo off the wall, turning it around to show me the watermark on the back—Genuinely Yours Studio.

I froze. That was exactly the studio where Jake Watson and I took our wedding photos. Even the wedding date was identical.

Seeing the confusion on Brandon's face, I waved dismissively and insisted on going myself.

With the wedding photo in hand, I headed to Genuinely Yours Studio and found a staff member. "Excuse me. Was this photo taken here? I'd like to know if it's been photoshopped in any way or if it's a deepfake."

The studio assistant took the photo from me, checked the watermark, and then pulled up the records on the computer. "Yes, this was taken here. As for the edits you mentioned, we'll need to run a check."

About 30 minutes later, he returned with the results. "There are signs it's been photoshopped. Most couples want their wedding photos to look nicer, so we did some standard touch-ups for both you and your husband.

"For example, we made your skin tone a little more even and enlarged your husband's eyes slightly."

"I-Is that all?" I asked shakily. "You didn't edit my husband into someone else? It's not a deepfake?"

The studio assistant looked at me, bewildered. "What kind of business would edit another man's face onto the groom's body?"

I opened my mouth to press him further, but decided against it and changed the subject instead. "Well, in that case, how many couples came here for wedding photos on this date?"

"Just you and your husband, ma'am."

The doubts and questions in my mind only grew. After leaving the photo with the staff for restoration, I walked out of the studio in a daze.

It didn't make sense. I would get it if the people around me were lying to me, but why would the staff at the studio also do that?

After mulling over it for a while, I decided to start with the person closest to Brandon. I pulled out my phone and called Rachel Schneider.

"Hey, Rachel. Are you free? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What's wrong? Did your husband give you a hard time again?" she asked. "Give me a minute. I'll meet you right after I put the baby to sleep."

I hadn't expected Brandon's words from my previous life to be true. Rachel had actually become a mother.

When we met at the cafe, I pulled out my chair and sat across from her. Her face glowed with happiness.

"Erica, it's been forever!" she greeted me. "Ever since I had the baby, I barely get any time to myself anymore."

"Sorry. I know this will sound weird, but… who's your husband?"

Rachel was visibly taken aback. "What's going on with you? Erica, you were my bridesmaid. It's Alex Cooper, the guy next door."

She showed me the wallpaper on her phone's lock screen. It was a wedding photo of her and Alex.

My grip loosened around the coffee cup, and the brown liquid spilled onto the table. "Wait… I mean, weren't you in love with Brandon before?"

"Brandon? That boring blockhead? I couldn't stand him. I don't know what you see in him. Sure, Alex isn't exactly handsome, but he spoils me. He's willing to spend money on me too."

How could this be? Rachel used to despise Alex. The one she loved was Brandon.

Now, everything had completely reversed.

Faced with my silence, Rachel reached over worriedly and grabbed my hand. "Brandon's not actually mistreating you, is he? He used to love you like crazy. He even spent a fortune engraving both your initials on the wedding rings."

I looked at the band on my finger and hurriedly took it off to check the inside. Sure enough, it had Brandon's initials and mine.

But I clearly remembered that the man who slipped the ring onto my finger was Jake, and that ring had our initials engraved on it too.

Was I really losing my mind? Had Jake never existed at all?