00:00Down, I was known as the most beautiful and most expensive prostitute.
00:03Every day, gold miners lined up, willing to spend a month's pay just to take their chances.
00:08But all I saw in their eyes was lust and greed.
00:10It made me feel nothing but disgust and emptiness.
00:12My body was a product, my soul already numb.
00:15Until one day, a stranger knocked on my door.
00:17His name was Mike, a humble farmer who offered double the price just to spend a night with me.
00:21He quietly told me he wanted to marry me.
00:23I'd heard those words too many times before, so I didn't take them seriously.
00:26But for the next three days, Mike kept coming back, paying double each time.
00:30He didn't rush to touch me.
00:31He just kept talking about his farm, the wheat fields under the sun, and the life he dreamed of.
00:35I couldn't help but scoff and said, I feel nothing for you.
00:38You're a dirt farmer.
00:41He froze for a moment.
00:42His face darkened, but he didn't argue, he just left quietly.
00:45Watching his lonely back, I felt a strange ache, something I hadn't felt before.
00:48The next day, I gathered my courage and begged Madam to let me go.
00:52But how could she let her golden goose walk free?
00:54She had her men beat me hard, blood mixed with tears.
00:57I was bruised, broken, hopeless.
00:59And Mike showed up again.
01:00When he saw what I looked like, he didn't hesitate.
01:03He handed over everything he had to buy my freedom.
01:05His eyes held no desire, only determination.
01:07He even got down on one knee and proposed on the spot.
01:10When I woke up, I was already at his farm.
01:12He gently tried to check my wounds, but I instinctively pulled away.
01:15I didn't trust anyone and couldn't bring myself to be vulnerable.
01:17Three weeks passed.
01:18One day, after he left the house, I quietly put on my old clothes and planned to head back to town.
01:22I hadn't gone far when I saw Mike chasing after me.
01:25I quickened my steps, thinking he'd try to stop me.
01:27I turned and slapped him, yelling.
01:30You don't own me!
01:33Mike didn't get angry.
01:34He simply said,
01:35That way is 19 miles back to the town you came from.
01:38This way is one mile home.
01:39There's food there and me waiting for you.
01:41His voice was calm but firm.
01:43I don't know why, but I chose to walk the one mile home.
01:45When I stepped inside, Mike didn't say a word.
01:48He just quietly knelt down and cleaned the wounds on my feet.
01:50I looked at his gentle face, and for the first time, I felt something warm inside.
01:54That night, I tried to repay him with my body, but he softly turned me down.
01:58He said he'd wait until the day I truly wanted to be with him.
02:01I had never met a man like this.
02:02He didn't rush.
02:03He just stayed.
02:04So I started learning how to be a real wife.
02:05In the days that followed, I gathered eggs from the chicken coop for the first time,
02:09tried fishing, even learned how to chop wood.
02:11I wasn't good at any of it, but for once, I felt peace.
02:13Without realizing it, I started to rely on him.
02:16Little by little, I opened up.
02:17Then one day, the neighbor's baby was born.
02:19Mike looked at the child with such warmth in his eyes, he clearly loved kids.
02:22But me, I could never have children again.
02:24I told him the truth, how I'd been abused years ago by a nobleman.
02:27It was a memory I had buried deep, never shared with anyone.
02:30But after hearing it, Mike didn't flinch.
02:32He simply said, there's nothing in this world that could make me stop loving you.
02:35Still, I felt unworthy of him.
02:37I wrote him a letter, left the wedding ring on the table, and slipped away from the farm.
02:41I didn't return to my old life.
02:42I got a job as a waitress in town.
02:44Day after day, I tried to let time wash everything away, especially my feelings for Mike.
02:47Four or five years passed.
02:49Maybe out of respect, he never came looking for me.
02:51But I never stopped thinking about him.
02:53Then one day, Mike's brother found me.
02:54He told me Mike hadn't been doing well.
02:56He'd spent all these years waiting and never moved on.
02:58After hearing that, I finally gathered the courage to head back.
03:01All those years, I wasn't running from Mike.
03:03I was running from the part of me that still longed to be loved.
03:05But this time, I'm done running.
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