Winter's End, Spring's Reckoning

Given a new chance at life, upon learning of my husband's supposed death, the first thing I did was to register him as dead.

In my previous life, after my husband, Jonah Lloyd, learned that his elder brother, Noah, had died in an accident, he resolved to assume his brother's identity and provide for his widowed sister-in-law.

All because the young widow from the city couldn't withstand the gossip of the village.

As for me, coming from humble origins, even without my husband, I could survive on my own.

When I heard the news, I truly believed that my husband had died in an accident. I was determined to raise our daughter with all my heart.

That year, during a blizzard, while his family huddled together and celebrated in the warmth, I was out there fighting over the money after selling my body. I bled out and died in the harsh, cold night. My daughter, Tina, left waiting for me to bring back good, starved to death in the bitter winter.

Only after death did I learn that my husband hadn't died. He had spent his entire life in his brother's name, protecting the widow, living to see his children and grandchildren grow old around him.

And now, reopening my eyes, I had returned to the very day my husband died in an accident.

"Jonah, are you sure you want to take over your older brother's identity? What will happen to Fiona and your daughter?"

I heard my husband, Jonah Lloyd, reply with total determination, "I've already said. From now on, I'm Noah Lloyd. Don't call me by the wrong name.

"Fiona's a country lady. No gossip will faze her. She loves me so much that even without me, she'll bring up our child.

"Adele is from the city. If she finds out that Noah has passed away, she won't survive, let alone the son in her. Are you two willing to see her marry another guy and let him raise your grandson?"

How did I not know that my husband was close to his sister-in-law? Or perhaps, he had coveted her all along?

He continued, "Besides, are you willing to give up the money Noah earns in the army every month? Just do as I say and bury him in my name. Treat me as if I died!"

Jonah's parents were suddenly silent. When it came to profit, they chose silence.

In the countryside, a family could toil in the fields for an entire year and still not earn that much. The whole Lloyd family survived on the allowance that Noah sent home every month.

And if that wasn't enough, there was still me, the fool that I was, emptying my wedding gifts to help support them.

My heart sank as I stood outside the door, listening to Jonah's scheme. I didn't know whether Adele could survive without her husband, but I knew I would die without my husband.

In my previous life, I was deceived by the news of his death. I was so stricken with grief that I passed out. When I woke up again, I found the house completely emptied by thieves.

Under such a huge blow, I fell sick and got admitted to the hospital. I didn't even notice that Adele, who was constantly complaining about not having enough to survive, started wearing expensive jewelry.

Jonah might have thought that I was from the countryside, and so I could survive even without my husband.

What happened instead was that I didn't dare to stay too long in the hospital, even though I was sick.

What happened instead was that I had to pawn my wedding ring for a sack of potatoes.

What happened instead was that I ended up toiling in the fields, competing with other men, just for a little money. Even with that, my daughter and I might be able to survive.

Unfortunately, we encountered a once-in-a-century snowstorm. My money were gone, so were the fields.

We survived on tree bark and leaves, but even that ran out.

Seeing my daughter, Tina, munching on her blanket, I reached out to the widower, Michael Worrey. I sold myself to him.

Yet, after the deed, he went back on his words. He refused to pay and snapped, "You're just a widow with a dead husband! This is what you're worth! You either take it or leave it!"

I ended up in a brawl with him, but due to the disparity of strengths, he killed me with a punch to my head.

The thick snow buried all the evidence of his crime. I even ended up on his plate.

Tina died in the cold due to hunger before I could return to her.

This was why, this time, given a brand new chance at life, I no longer wanted my useless husband!