Chapter 1 Chapter 1 - Lana

After the shop closed, things at home have been getting increasingly difficult. My mother's pension barely covers her medication and helps me pay the rent. I spend the whole day searching for an opportunity, and one day, I managed to get a job that paid me daily at a buffet. It wasn't much, but it was enough to help.

The problem was that the owner came on to me. As soon as I rejected his advances, he fired me and even made it difficult for me to get another chance at similar buffets. Ana Cláudia is my best friend; we are neighbors, and she accompanies my daily struggle.

"I've told you so many times, Lana, you're facing difficulties because you want to."

"Please, don't say that. My mother fought so hard to take care of me, and I feel so sorry to see her go through hardships," I replied, sitting on the couch and painting my toenails.

"Then don't allow it! You're beautiful; you could earn a lot of money showing your body like I do."

"I can't bring myself to expose like that; my mother would be ashamed. You know how she raised me, with so many rules and modesty."

"Lana, you won't be exposing yourself. You can create a character or wear a mask. The men who pay to see us, they only care about the body!"

"I appreciate you wanting to help me, Ana, but I can't do that."

That night, I pondered the proposal of using a mask and ceasing to be myself to show parts of my body to unknown men. I don't know; it would be a desperate option, and I hope I don't have to reach that point.

The next day, I woke up to my mother's distress and rushed to her room.

"What's wrong, Mom? Why are you crying like this?"

"I can't see properly, I can't!" I hugged her tightly; my mother always had vision problems, and due to lack of care, everything could be even worse than before.

We scheduled a consultation, it was my last emergency money. If we were to schedule it through the public health system, it would take too long. Soon, she was called into the examination room, underwent the test, and the ophthalmologist told us what was happening.

"Unfortunately, I don't bring good news. Your mother suffers from chronic macular degeneration. This disease is slowly taking away her visual acuity. In simpler words, your mother is gradually going blind!"

I started crying, and so did she; it was distressing to know that something so cruel could happen to my mother.

"Is there any cure?" I asked, holding her hand tightly.

"There's surgery and treatments for the losses she's already had."

"And how much does it all cost?"

"Between sixty and seventy thousand reais." When he mentioned that amount, a lump formed in my throat. I didn't want to appear weak to my mother, and this wasn't the time for that.

"We can't afford that amount," she replied, so sad.

"There's a possibility of getting it through the public health system, but they need to go to a clinic and fill out a waiting list form."

Waiting list, a less painful name for a queue that would stretch on for years and years. My mother didn't have that time. We left there, carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. We got home, and she went to cry in her room, looking, as long as she could, at the image of her devotion saint.

"My mother won't go blind, I can't allow that!" I went to Ana Cláudia's house and asked her to sign me up on that stripper platform. She lent me some gear she used to seduce men and encourage them to pay more for a private show.

She gave me tips, explained how to set up my account so that tips would go directly there, and the way she explained it didn't seem as terrible as I knew it was. I have two newer lingerie sets; I've been without a boyfriend for a year, and without one, I had no reason to renew this type of clothing frequently. Still, I went to a store and bought a black, sexy bodysuit along with sensual black stockings.

That very night, I would start; I couldn't waste another second. I got home, and it was already night; my mother was already in bed, her room's light off. I entered my room, took a shower, put on that lace mask and the bodysuit, released my hair, and turned on the laptop camera.

I was already logged into the platform, I sat in front of the camera and waited for a man attracted by my profile picture. It didn't take long; a guy named Edward was online and already requesting access to my real-time image.

I attended to him and waited for his orders. There were options on the platform for them to choose without having to ask formally. Show breasts for 100 reais, buttocks for 250 reais, and intimate parts for 400 reais.

"Stand up, I want to see you better!" He messaged.

I stood up and took a turn; soon he clicked the option for me to show my breasts. I froze, paralyzed with shame, but I remembered why I was doing this and showed my breasts to him. I thought he'd ask me to show more, but he saw and then left... that night, I showed everything to more men, totaling two thousand and two hundred reais. I could hardly believe it; I had never earned anything like that in such a short time.

I started exposing myself during the day too, sometimes reaching two thousand and sometimes not even a thousand reais. It depended a lot on the clients; I had even built a loyal base of customers searching for my night alias... on Saturday's early morning, one of them wanted to contact me discreetly, and I accepted his request in the chat.

Leon Versalles, a beautiful name!

"Good evening," I messaged him.

"Good evening, night cat. I wish to make you a proposal."

"I'm here looking for generous men like you, Mr. Leon," I typed.

"Stand in front of the camera and show me your face!"

I thought he would ask me for something beyond the norm, and I was right. I was tired of showing everything to everyone. This Leon left me speechless; he could ask for anything, even for me to touch my body in front of the camera, but no.

"My face, is that what you want me to show, really?"

"I'll pay a thousand dollars to take off your mask!"

The only thing I can preserve in this job is my face. This Leon asked too much of me, but a thousand dollars is great money and will help me pay for many things and even dream of getting the surgery cost more quickly.

"Do you have an answer for me? I'm waiting, and I don't like waiting, brunette!"

"Make the payment; I'll do what you asked now."

In less than three minutes, there were over four thousand reais in my account according to the current dollar exchange rate. I untied the mask's ribbon and removed it while looking at the screen; I had never felt so humiliated.

Showing my body with my face covered preserved my intimacy somewhat, my honor... now I'm exposed. I let a tear roll down and quickly wiped it away; surely, he didn't pay to see someone crying that much.

'You can put the mask back on now!'

I did as he asked and covered my face again; Leon left the chat. Many days passed, and I continued to expose myself and earn money that way. Sometimes, I catch myself waiting for that man again. A man who most likely must be so far away, why would he pay to see the face of a woman like me?

He probably didn't like me; he never accessed my page again. I was saving up slowly, but the household bills and expenses didn't allow me to save enough. Walking down the street, I passed by a church and went inside, praying to God to give me a way out.

"God, I'm willing to prove my love for the person who has dedicated themselves most to me in this life. Help me save my mother, help me!" That week, we had requested her surgery through the public health system, even knowing that it wouldn't be in time.

We were waiting for a miracle and divine providence. I continued with my work online, and one day, when my mother was at the supermarket, I received a visitor.

"I would like to speak to Ms. Lana Gonçalves Fernandes."

"That's me!" I was scared; the last thing I needed was more problems in this life.

"I'm a lawyer, and my name is Alberto Bragança." We shook hands, and I invited him in.

"I don't know what matter you have to discuss with me."

"Don't be frightened by my visit, Lana; I'm here to represent the interests of my client. Mr. Leon Versalles!"

"Leon, I remember that name."

"Exactly, I've come to offer you a contract at his request."

"Contract? How did he find me?' I was scared; if he found me so easily, others could do the same.

"My client is a very wealthy man; he liked you. We know you're in a complicated situation due to your mother's health."

God, they knew everything! If I wanted to hide from the world using a mask, now everyone would know thanks to their blackmail. I started crying; everyone would find out what I was doing to make a living.

"Please, calm down, miss!" He offered me a tissue. "I see you haven't understood the real intentions of my visit."

"Then explain to me, what does he want from me?'

"It's not about what I want, it's about Leon." He took some papers out of the folder and handed them to me.

"What is this?'

"A contract. You have all this week to read it; if you need clarification, I'll leave my contact, or you can even consult another lawyer of your trust before signing."

I stared at those documents.

"This is a great opportunity to save your mother, don't fail to read what's written here." I accompanied him to the door and received the contact card.

A contract, so many pages... clauses and more clauses, and from many of them, I didn't understand anything. Ana Cláudia was dating a law student, and I took advantage of him helping us understand some things.

"Here it says it brings the description of the purpose of the business made, in fact, and in simpler words, this is a submission contract. It establishes that upon signing, you will be entering an agreement to live in his residence located in London for a predetermined period of twelve months from the day of your arrival in the country. The contracted party B, which is Lana, shall provide sexual services to party A, for the agreed-upon period."

"I didn't understand it wrong, Leon wants me to be his private prostitute!" I was scared; of course, I won't accept going to another country with a strange man.

"He requests that you undergo several routine medical exams before the trip." Diogo seemed more interested in reading it all than me.

"On top of everything, he's not a fan of using condoms!" Ana Cláudia joked.

"At least, you can find humor in all this, Ana, with each passing day, I'm more afraid of what will happen to my mother.'

"Then accept, Lana. If this man lives outside the country and took the trouble to send a lawyer here, he might really be interested in having a relationship with you during that time, my friend."

"But this is madness!" I exclaimed.

"He has given you many assurances here about your physical integrity, assuring you that there will be no violence. All your expenses for food, accommodation, and transportation will be covered by him. I researched, and this lawyer of his is legitimate, I just couldn't find anything about this Leon Versalles and no photos.' Diogo was a nice guy, he was helping us as best as he could.