There were 48 of us in the cohort, yet only 47 students were in the photo. The missing one had to be Jake. This meant he existed, but his existence had been erased.

Suddenly, the door behind me creaked open. I looked up in a panic and met the eyes of the person who walked in. It was the academic dean, Ms. Greta Rosewood. "Erica, why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

Seeing that she wasn't angry about me trespassing, I quickly asked, "Ms. Rosewood, do you remember a student in our cohort named Jake Watson?"

She pushed up her reading glasses, her expression full of confusion. "Jake Watson? Was there a student by that name in your cohort? I may be getting old, but I don't forget my students."

I hurriedly pulled out the group photo and pointed at the number 48. "We had 48 students in our cohort, yet one is missing from the photo. It was Jake, right?"

Ms. Rosewood studied the photo for a long time, only to chuckle out loud. "Oh, that. It'd be Alex Cooper. He ate something bad that day and had diarrhea, so he ran off during the photo."

The faint hope I had just started clinging to evaporated, plunging me back into the pit of helplessness. There was still no trace of Jake and certainly no shared memories of him.

When I left the administrative office, I walked away empty-handed. Whether it was the present or the past, it was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.

Yet, the ten years I had spent loving him were carved so deeply into my bones that I refused to deny them.

On my way across the campus, a couple walked past me, chatting casually, "So, when am I meeting your parents? What about the holidays?"

That simple question jolted something in me.

I had been searching from the wrong angle all along. I had only been investigating the people around me, but what if I started from the people around Jake instead? For example, his parents.

Following my old memories, I found my way to the Watsons' home. When I saw the familiar street and gate, I finally felt a tiny sense of relief.

I knocked, and the door opened, revealing Jake's mother. She looked exactly as I remembered. Perhaps I could finally find an inkling about where he was.

"Hello, Mrs. Watson. Do you remember Jake Watson? Your… son."

She frowned at me in confusion. "What are you talking about, miss? I don't have a son, just a daughter."

Behind her, a young woman about Jake's age peeked out. "What's going on, Mom?"

Honestly, I was taken aback when I saw her. She looked convincingly like Jake's sibling. But he was an only child. He never had any siblings.

I pulled out my phone and showed them a photo of Jake. "Does this ring a bell? At all?"

The young woman answered first, "He does look kind of familiar…"

A spark of hope surged in my chest. "Have you seen him before? He's very important to me. Please, just tell me what you know."

Yet, her answer sent me straight back into hopelessness. "Mom, I think he looks a lot like Dad. Could this be Dad's secret child or something?"

Mrs. Watson tapped her on the forehead, chiding, "Yeah, right. If your father hears this, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

She then turned back to me. "Miss, we don't know who this is. I don't know how you found our address either, but please leave. We don't want any trouble."

Without waiting for my response, she shut the door.

Not only did they fail to recognize Jake, but they didn't remember me either. My investigation had hit yet another dead end.

Just as I turned to leave, an elderly neighbor opened her door. "Young lady, I heard you're looking for Jake Watson. I know where he is."

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.