They’ve been married for 9 years and all seems well, but Shania Twain still remembers the odd way that she and her husband Frédéric Thiébaud fell for one another.

“It’s twisted, but so beautifully twisted,” the 54-year-old explains to AARP The Magazine of her love story with her man. It all kicked off in 2008, when the singer’s husband at the time Robert John “Mutt” Lange — who was also her cowriter — broke off their 14-year marriage. Shania soon learned that he was cheating on her with her longtime friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. And who was her pal married to at the time? Frédéric.

“There were days I didn’t really care if tomorrow came,” the Grammy winner, who of course had a tough time dealing with the affair, says. However, she would find love again.

Shania Twain Frederic Thiebaud
KCR/Shutterstock

“Survival is everything,” she continues. “I was in quicksand. I panicked, like everybody does, but I didn’t surrender. I found a way out.”

These days, aside from focusing on her marriage, the hitmaker is also a mom to son Eja, 18, — who she shares with Robert. In fact, her only child is already following the same career route that she did. “He’s very passionate about making music, creating music, composing music,” Shania gushed to Entertainment Tonight. “He doesn’t have this desire to be on stage. I’m not sure if he would ever go in that direction. He’s following more in the footsteps of creating the music. He loves to orchestrate music. I’m very happy for him.” This isn’t the first time that the entertainer has discussed Eja.

“He’s not taking interest in being a performer, so I’m relieved about that if I was being really honest,” she admitted in another interview with Sounds Like Nashville. “I think he’ll enjoy music more just being the creator of the music. It’s just really taxing being a performer, being the person out in front, unless that’s what he really wants. He just has a quiet confidence about him.”

“He doesn’t have that extrovert — you know everybody look at me — type of personality,” she added. “I think it will suit him well to be the creator.”