Gaslit by Reality: My True Husband's Gone

A surge of excitement instantly overwhelmed me. I knew it! Jake really did exist!

"Ma'am, is it him?"

The elderly neighbor, Eloise Langley, looked at the photo in my phone and shook her head.

"No, not this young man. There's a boy in elementary school who has the same name, though. I have to say, he does look like the man next door… Oh, my. I'd be surprised if it's actually what I'm thinking of."

I pulled my phone back, unwilling to give up. "Is it true that the family next door only ever had a daughter and not a son?"

"That's absolutely true," she said firmly. "Mrs. Watson went into labor early. I was the one who called the midwife to help with the delivery. It was a baby girl."

Eloise thought for a moment, then went back inside her house to retrieve an old photograph. It showed a young, weak Mrs. Watson holding a newborn baby girl, smiling faintly with relief and happiness.

The recorded birth time on the photo matched Jake's exactly, down to the minute.

"Could this timestamp be fake?" I asked hesitantly.

She waved dismissively. "Impossible. That was the day seven planets aligned. It doesn't happen often, so I remember it very clearly."

Jake had mentioned that phenomenon to me before. I even laughed and joked that he was the destined child of the universe or something.

After checking repeatedly, Eloise confirmed the Watson family never had a son. Everything seemed to have reached a dead end once again.

A sudden thought struck me just then. Everyone who had known me before still remembered me, but everyone connected to Jake not only seemed to have forgotten him but also me.

Eloise's grandson had passed away young, so she had long since treated Jake like her own grandson. At the same time, she had treated me like her granddaughter-in-law and even given me a keepsake.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, where's your grandson right now?"

At the mention of him, her expression softened with warmth. There wasn't a trace of sorrow. "Oh, him? He's a pilot working at the airport. He's flying in the sky all year round and hardly spends any time on the ground."

As soon as she said that, her grandson video-called her. On the screen, he looked perfectly well and alive. Yet by this point in time, he should've been dead.

This was yet another contradiction between my memories and reality.

Once the call ended, I took out a ruby necklace Eloise had once given me. "Ma'am, do you remember this?"

Eloise took it from me in shock and examined it closely. "That's strange. How did the ruby necklace I prepared for my future granddaughter-in-law end up in your hands? I've always kept it at home. I would never have lost it outside."

A faint realization began to form in my mind. "Ma'am, could you check and see if the necklace is still at home?"

She nodded and immediately went back inside to search. Not long after, she came back out holding an identical ruby necklace.

"This is so strange… How can there be two of them? And they both look like the real thing. My late husband handmade this for me years ago. There was only one piece. I remember every detail of the craftsmanship to this day."

I put away the ruby necklace, thanked Eloise, and left.

When I rushed home, I began testing the theory forming in my mind. I poured two glasses of mango juice. Brandon was allergic to mangoes, while Jake loved them.

Just then, Brandon walked out of the study, picked up one glass, and downed it without hesitation. "Honey, you always make the best mango juice. I could drink this forever and never get tired of it."

I watched him closely, waiting for a reaction, but there was nothing.

Then, my phone rang. It was the photo studio staff.

"Mrs. Moore, your wedding photo has been restored. You may pick it up at any time during our working hours. Thanks."

I hurried to Genuinely Yours Studio and collected the restored photo. When I got home, I hung it back on the wall above the bed.

At that moment, everything finally clicked. I understood why all of this was happening.