"Eres muy inteligente, Luce," he praises me softly. "Vas a aprender hablar ingles rápidamente."

"Solo gracias a ti," I tell him, sliding a little bit closer. "Cuéntame mas de tu país."

Still working, he watches me indulgently as he tells me yet another story about his home, about those big cities I can hardly imagine and all the possibilities available to the people living there. He tells me about a land of freedom.

And for the first time, I have hope.

For the first time, I also...love.

Tears fall down my cheeks as I realize that was the beginning of who I am today. Before that, I never dreamed about the outside world. I never dared dream that I could be free. Before that, I never heard anyone praise me before.

Nikki was the first to see me as a person.

"Why are you crying?" Ze's booming voice snaps me out of my thoughts. Somehow, he's in front of me, tipping my chin up and wiping my tears away. "I command you to stop crying."

"It doesn't work like that, Ze," I tell him with a tremulous smile. "I cannot just stop crying."

"It is because of that man?" he grits out, his voice holding a violent edge to it.

"That man is my husband. He's also the only man to ever acknowledge me as a person and see my potential. Without him... I wouldn't be standing here today."

"I do not understand you," he frowns.

A sad smile tips at my lips, just as the background of that memory fades away.

"Before I met Nikki, I was depressed. I was not going to last long there. People hated me. The work was hard. Food was barely enough. I was living from day to day, thinking—no, wishing that the next day would be my last. Back then, death was the only way out. But then Nikki showed up and he opened my eyes to a world full of possibilities. He taught me English and spoke to me of the wonders of the outside world. He appreciated me as a person and not just a means of production. And just like that, he gave me hope that life could be...more."

Ze's brows are bunched together. He's staring at me as if he doesn't understand a word of what I'm saying. But he doesn't need to. Because I finally understand.

It would be so easy to give in to this parasitic realm just so I could reside forever in my memories of Nikki. But that wouldn't solve anything, just as my death at the hacienda wouldn't have solved everything. Because Nikki taught me something else too.

Perseverance.

You can't just hope and wait for things to fall into your lap. You have to work hard to make those things a reality.