Episode 3

Roberto moved in with Chiara, and Roberta, his sixteen-year-old daughter, decided to go with him, preferring the comforts to being with her mother. Alessandra stayed with Luca and Alessia, trying to maintain an appearance of normalcy.

However, difficulties soon arrived. Roberto kept his word and had manipulated the divorce in his favor, leaving her without financial support. Alessandra sold her car to pay for Luca's university for a few months, but she knew that wouldn't be enough.

Alessandra went out every day to look for work and no one gave her any; her ex-husband had closed doors on her as if it wasn't already difficult to get a job at her age.

She cried every day. One day, walking around everywhere, she ran into a childhood friend, Diana. They had been friends since they were little; she was the daughter of who was her nanny, but after getting married, they lost contact.

"Diana, how have you been?" Alessandra greets her.

"Good, friend, long time no see, but come on, let's have a coffee." They talked about everything a little. Diana had been through a lot; her family went through many health problems, her mother died and, not knowing what to do because she couldn't continue studying, she was forced to work in a place that, although it didn't give her pride, was all she knew how to do.

Alessandra told her her story. She told her that she was a month behind on paying for her youngest daughter's school and they made fun of her at school for being poor, because her own eldest daughter took it upon herself to spread the news and bullied her own sister.

"I'm sorry, Alessandra, it's difficult to get a job, I know, especially if that idiot is putting obstacles in your way. I know you're not like that, but well, you can get a job where I do." Alessandra's eyes sparkled with emotion.

"Really, Diana? But, just like that? Where is that and what is it?" Diana smiles at her and answers.

"I work as a dancer in a luxury nightclub; I know you're not like that, but you can just dance. There are also luxury companions and prostitutes there; it's not the same, by the way." The sparkle of emotion on Alessandra's face faded.

"As a dancer?" she speaks doubting her words, but she is desperate.

"I don't know, Diana, working as a dancer, how could I see my children later?" Diana shook her head.

"You can just dance; I dance and I'm a lady companion too, but there they don't force you to sleep with anyone. All that depends on whether you want to do it; it's just accompanying them everywhere like a luxury woman, of course, if that happens and you want to charge, that's up to you," Diana said. She had been working there for a while and was already used to it, so to speak.

"What do you say, do you dare?" Diana asks her, and Alessandra thought about it for a moment. Her daughter was suffering from bullying and her son almost had a breakdown this month that she had paid; even though he supported her, she knew that he was going through hardships. His girlfriend left him when she learned of his new situation, also through Roberta.

"Yes, Diana," she says. Desperate to find a solution, Alessandra accepted the job as a dancer at that luxury club. It was the only place that hired her, and although she hated every moment, she needed the money to support her children.

The place was very luxurious: dim lights, glass tables with black tablecloths, colored lights spinning everywhere, women dancing for everyone, others in the rooms selling their bodies, and others were lady companions. Like Diana, who hardly ever stopped by there; she lived traveling. Alessandra felt overwhelmed by everything.

Every night, she put on her short clothes and danced, dreaming of a better future; she drove men crazy with her beauty and movements. She was tired of going everywhere and that the people who once called her a friend saw her with contempt for being a poor divorcee.

Until one day they asked the owner of the club where she went to kick her and her little daughter out because they were a bad image for the club. Alessandra felt like dying when she saw her daughter's sad face.

The nights continued to pass and she danced for everyone. There she wore a wig and, because of the dim lights, if someone saw her, it would be difficult to recognize her. The debts were being paid off little by little and she even had a person helping her in the mansion. Her son sat down with her to ask her and she told him that she had gotten a job and not to worry, since he wanted to sell his car to help her and she didn't want to.

Roberto continued to stir up trouble to turn Alessandra's other children against her, but he didn't achieve anything.

Alessandra knew she had to do something to stop working there. It wasn't a good idea; if Roberto found out, he might take her little one away from her too, and she didn't want that. She couldn't hold Roberta back, but at least she would continue to look after her other children while she came to her senses.

The pay was excellent; she kept dancing, refusing to do anything else. She didn't want money for luxuries, just to survive, and she had it. They always offered her money for other things and she kept refusing, until she was called from a company where she had left her resume...

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ferrari, you have an interview with us tomorrow; don't miss it, it's at 8 in the morning." Alessandra was happy; everything was finally being fixed. This was her ticket to leave that nightclub and she would give it her all to do it; that was a good company and they paid more than well.

Alessandra put on a suit and went to the job interview; the company was immense, more than her ex's. They asked her if she had experience and she said no, but she could learn and so it was. The woman was the assistant to the CEO of the company, whom she did not yet know, and everyone there was already wishing her luck because he was a man of a horrible character.

"Welcome, I'm Aitana Santos and I'm Mr. Mancini's secretary. He's a sweetheart, but your boss is to be feared," she said, and she didn't know what she would face, but she would do it for her children and for herself.

"Thank you, I'm Alessandra Ferrari. Don't worry, he can't be more of an idiot than my ex, so I can handle him," she said, laughing, and went home with a huge smile on her face.

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