It was dark in the early morning, and the village seemed quiet, except for the cry of a lonely rooster, as if it were the bird's job to awaken the village. The village itself seemed disconnected from the rest of the world; it sat in a valley surrounded by mountains. The houses dotted the landscape, and there, on a hill overlooking the others, was a villa. The villa itself was large and well-built by the owner, Cortez Chavaz. Senor Chavez's family name carried significant weight, despite most people being unaware of Rivera's existence. His wife, Estrella, is the reason this villa is not overgrown and vacant. She diligently maintains the villa, ensuring that it does not bring shame to the family name. The villa sat on the hill, its windows darkened and covered in raindrops. Inside the cozy villa, Javier slowly awoke to the gentle sound of his mother's light footsteps echoing down the hallway. He sat in his bed for a moment as sleep slowly faded away. When he got up, the cold hardwood floor jolted him awake completely. After getting dressed, he walked down the darkened hallway. As he approached the end, he could see a light coming from the steps to the left. Javier discovered his mother in the spacious kitchen, bustling about as she prepared breakfast. The air was filled with the fragrant aroma of spices and coffee, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Before Javier could take another step, almost like a sixth sense, his madre turned around and then spoke quietly in Spanish, "Good morning. Did you rest well?" Javier made his way to the lattice cupboard. Pulling out a cup, he said, "Good morning, madre. How come you're up so early?" Estrella looked at Javier, her emerald eyes rimmed with the sadness of a hurtful past. "Javier..." she started to say but then stopped herself as if trying to find the right words. Javier could tell she was suffering silently; he noticed how nervous she seemed. He didn't need to contemplate why she was nervous; his Padre was the source of trouble these days. Javier set his cup down and walked to his Madre. He gently approached her and hugged her. His Madre seemed calmer in his arms, but he caught a glimpse of her wrists when she pulled away to wipe her eyes. "Mother... did Father strike you again?" Javier felt anger rise, it was a feeling he didn't like. she didn't answer him but looked away tears started to fall ''There's nothing I can do....'' she cried she put her scarred hands up to her eyes to try to stop the flow of tears. Javier hurt on the inside watching his madre cry, how could his padre hurt his madre she was innocent, she did nothing wrong. She does all the work and yet he unjustly beats her. ''madre.... let's run away from him we can build a new life far from his rage-'' his madre put her hand up to silence him ''' We can't run son, even if we were able to escape we would have the shame to carry for the rest of our lives. it would bring dishonor.'' Javier looked at her with empathy ''You can't let him hurt you like this...'' he watched her look out the window overlooking the backyard the dawn was now approaching pushing back the night. she looked back at Javier '' Let's get to the chores before your Padre gets back.''