Alle Kapitel von Gaslit by Reality: Daughter or No Daughter?: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

The alarm blared at 7:00 am.It was the 109th cycle.Tears streamed down my face as I opened my eyes.I couldn't let Marilyn get on that school bus anymore. I couldn't wait for her at the entrance of the kindergarten either."The bus is here, Mommy," Marilyn called out as always.I rushed over to her and hugged her tightly, planting messy kisses all over her face."You don't have to go to school today, sweetheart. I'm going to take you to the amusement park."Marilyn cheered ecstatically.Gabriel walked out of the bedroom with a suspicious look on his face. "Why are you acting so weirdly today?" he asked."I just thought that I should spend more time with her," I answered while lowering my head, not daring to meet his eyes."Do whatever you want," he said, shrugging.He then left for work.I helped Marilyn put on her prettiest princess dress and took her to the biggest amusement park in the city.I bought the biggest cotton candy there for her and rode the carousel with

In the end, Gabriel couldn't talk me out of going to the police station.Taylor had tagged along with us. She insisted that she was innocent and that she could prove it.The police officer who spoke to us was a young man.I told him everything about the cycles, the deaths, and James' and Taylor's smiles.I spoke until my throat was parched.By the end of it, the police officer's stern expression had morphed into a sympathetic one.Gabriel kept sighing next to me. "My apologies, officer," he said. "My wife… She's not right in the head. She spouts nonsense all the time.""Don't talk about Nat that way, Gabe," Taylor retorted, pretending to admonish Gabriel. "I'm sure that Nat's not doing it on purpose. She's just too upset."My fury only burned hotter at her antics. "Shut your mouth, you despicable woman!""Natasha!" Gabriel scolded.The police officer rapped his knuckles against the table and said, "Please calm down, ma'am.""I'm very calm!" I exclaimed as I pulled my phone

Oliver looked very similar to James. At that moment, restraint and uneasiness were written all over his face."You… Aren't you Mary's mother?" he asked carefully.Tears streamed down my face.Oliver remembered. He still remembered Marilyn.I rushed over to him and grabbed his wrists, asking, "Where's Mary? Where's my daughter? You saw her, didn't you?"Oliver was startled by my reaction and took a step backward."Please calm down, Mrs. Lopez. I… I know who Mary is. She's one of the kids on Dad's bus. But I didn't see her today."I felt as if my last spark of hope had been snuffed out. I let go of his wrists, feeling the strength drain from my body."You… you didn't see her today?""I didn't," Oliver repeated, scratching his head. "When I drove to your area this morning, I waited for a long time in front of your house. But she never came out. I assumed that she was taking the day off, so I left."He took out a small, pink hair clip from his pocket and offered it to me. "Oh, th

The murderous glint in Gabriel's eyes only lasted for a second, making me briefly wonder if my eyes were playing tricks on me.However, after experiencing 110 cycles, I had become extremely attuned to people's malice.My eyes hadn't been playing tricks on me—Gabriel wanted me dead."Ms. Wilson," the elderly policeman said, breaking the awkward silence. He handed a report to me with a strange expression, saying, "We conducted another investigation to verify your daughter's existence."I snatched the report out of his hands.Gabriel's and my marriage was clearly documented, but the section regarding our children was completely blank."That's impossible!" I exclaimed as I pointed at the empty space. "I clearly remember Mary's name being here!"Something bizarre happened when my finger touched the paper.The blank space flickered for a split second, the way old television screens did when the signal was bad. The surface of the paper began glitching, and I could vaguely make out the

The cab sped along the road.I kept my eyes trained outside the window, feeling as if I were being swallowed up by my raging anxiety.A few police cars trailed after the cab, their wailing sirens shattering the silence in the air.14 minutes.13 minutes.The seconds ticked by like a curse.Finally, the rusty, abandoned factory came into view. I threw the car door open and dashed toward the building, throwing all caution to the wind."Mary!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing throughout the space.The factory looked like it was completely deserted, but I began searching through the rooms anyway.Finally, in a storage room in the deepest part of the factory, I found Marilyn tied to a pole. Her mouth was taped up, and tears streamed down her little face as she struggled wildly against the ropes binding her."Mary!"I rushed over to her and tried to remove the tape from her mouth.Suddenly, a dark silhouette dashed out from behind the stack of boxes next to me