A TikToker says she pretends to be her identical twin every holiday for her grandparents who don't know she died

• Annie Niu pretended to be her twin sister when talking to her grandparents.

• Niu feared her grandparents would not be able to cope with her sister's death.

• She said that she protects older people from sad news.

Annie Niu, a TikToker with over 100,000 followers, posted a TikTok over Christmas where she said her twin sister had died three years ago, but she called her grandparents every holiday pretending to be her.

A video of Niu talking on the phone with her grandparents has been viewed over 8 million times.

@annie_niu ♬ Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift

Niu followed the initial video with an explanation that got over a million views. She said her sister died from a disease that affects babies, children, and teenagers and that it was called Meningitis. Meningitis can be fatal if it causes blood poisoning.

In Asian culture, it's common to protect the elderly from bad news.

She said that a lot of people think they deserve to know. You can't guarantee that they won't die if you tell them.

She said that her grandparents were very close to her.

She said that they're going to keep making up excuses why she isn't visiting them.

@annie_niu ♬ original sound - Annie Niu

Niu dreams about her sister a lot.

She said she treated it like she was spending half of her life with her.

Some people offered support but others questioned Niu's choices. Carter said she was surprised people didn't understand her decision to pretend to be her twin.

One viewer wrote that it was so selfish of you to do that to protect your grandparents. Sending you a lot of love.

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