Five years into our marriage, my husband died suddenly of an asthma attack, leaving me and our son all alone.
My friends pitied me for becoming a widow at such a young age, and my parents urged me to take our son and remarry as soon as possible.
But I refused, insisting on staying to mourn my husband.
Then, on the third anniversary of his death, I happened to hear my father-in-law angrily confront my eldest brother-in-law:
"Your older brother was the one with asthma, and he was the one who died. You faked your own death to look after your sister-in-law, deceiving your wife and child. Was it worth it?"
"For three years, Xiao Lin has lived as a widow, raising Lele all by herself. You gave your niece a home, but did you ever think that from the day you faked your death, Lele was left without a father too?"
In that moment, my blood ran cold. Only then did I understand that the man who died three years ago wasn't my husband, Zhou Zi'an, but his twin older brother, Zhou Ziping.
And my three years of mourning had been nothing but a joke.
That very night, I called home:
"Dad, Mom, I've decided to remarry!"
