1

Five years after our marriage, my husband suddenly died from asthma, leaving me and our son abandoned.

Friends lamented that I became a widow at such a young age, and my parents urged me to remarry quickly, taking my son with me.

But I firmly refused, insisting on staying to mourn for my husband.

Yet, on the third anniversary of his death, I unexpectedly heard my father-in-law angrily questioning my uncle-in-law:

"It was your brother who had asthma, and it was he who died. Was it worth faking your death just to take care of your sister-in-law?"

"For the past three years, Xiao Lin has mourned alone for you, raising Lele by herself. You've provided a family for your niece, but have you considered that from the day you faked your death, Lele lost her father?"

In that moment, my blood ran cold, and I finally understood that it wasn't my husband, Zhou Zian, who died three years ago, but his twin brother, Zhou Ziping.

And my three years of mourning was nothing but a joke.

That night, I called my parents:

"Dad, Mom, I agree to remarry!"

1

After my husband suddenly passed away due to asthma, my in-laws were too guilty to meet my eyes every day, taking extra care of me, fearing that I couldn't bear being widowed and would remarry with their grandson, cutting off their family line.

My parents kept urging me to remarry, saying I couldn't be a widow all my life, and tried to introduce me to potential suitors.

I was as stubborn as an ox, insisting on mourning for my husband.

I even turned to comfort my in-laws, assuring them that I wouldn't agree to someone else being called Lele's father.

For three years, no matter how tough or exhausting it was without my husband, I gritted my teeth and persevered.

But on the third anniversary of his death,

I inadvertently overheard my father-in-law rebuking my brother-in-law:

"Zhou Zian, it was your elder brother who had asthma since birth, and he was the one who passed away. Why did you have to stage a fake death and assume his identity?"

Zhou Zian? Wasn't that my husband's name?

What did he mean by a fake death?

I stood there in shock, not yet comprehending, when the voice of another man rang out:

"Dad, my sister-in-law was pregnant at the time. How could she withstand such a blow? As for Lin Ran, I have given her a son so that she isn't childless in her later years, and that should suffice."

"From that day on, I decided to take on the responsibility of caring for my sister-in-law in place of my elder brother. As for the identity of Zhou Zian, let him be buried for good."

I no longer had the heart to listen to the rest of the conversation, only feeling my hands and feet turn ice-cold, and my head seeming to throb as if pierced by steel needles.

It turned out that the one who died wasn't my husband, but his twin brother.

And the husband who should have been closest to me faked his death to care for another woman, abandoning me and our son.

At that moment, tears finally erupted uncontrollably.

Zhou Zian had once rescued me from the mud, and even after my reputation was ruined in a kidnapping case, he didn't despise me but knelt before me, proposing on the spot and vowing to take care of me for life.

After marriage, he was always attentive and never let me suffer any grievance.

Everyone said that the Zhou Family had produced a great lover, and I became the subject of envy and jealousy among all the women in town.

That's why, after he died, I decided to mourn for him, even choosing to remain a widow.

But now I realize how pathetically foolish I was.

Zhou Zian had always been healthy, never even catching a cold, so how could he have died from asthma?

It was all an act on his part, diligently performed for three years just to take care of the white moonlight in his heart.

And what about me and our son? What did we mean to him?

I covered my mouth desperately, preventing any sound from escaping as I turned and ran away in despair.