Dear Prudence,
I’m a man in his mid-30s, and I’ve been happily married to my wife for the past three years—but now something absolutely bizarre has come up and is threatening to destroy our relationship, and I don’t know what to do. About a month ago, my wife went on a travel vacation with her sisters, something she does every year. As usual, I stayed behind and held down the fort. When she got back, I was expecting her to be rested and refreshed, but instead something immediately seemed off. She barely spoke to me, and when she did, she was either very cold or inexplicably angry. After about two days of this, I asked her what was wrong, and she told me she “knew the truth” and wanted me to confess! Obviously I was confused, until she showed me a picture her friend had sent her while she was on vacation, a picture that showed me and another woman being physically affectionate at a local restaurant. Here’s the problem, Prudie: It’s not me in the picture! But whoever it is, he looks almost EXACTLY like me, same haircut, same beard, same style of glasses, and from the angle the photo was taken, there’s essentially no way to tell us apart.
When I explained this to her, things got even worse. She said she wasn’t mad at me before, but now she was furious because I would tell her such an obvious lie. After all, she had the picture right there! Ever since then, it has been constant fighting and lots (and lots) of nights spent on the couch. Then this week she told me she was leaving to stay with her sister for a while, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose her for good! I love my wife, and I would never step out on her in a million years.
—Evil Twin