1 Chapter I

"You can stop right here." I say to the driver while adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder. He smoothly pulls over to the side and comes to a full stop.

The driver makes eye contact with me through the mirror and I clear my throat, fingers reaching for the door handle. "This is the last time you'll be driving me. Tell my father that I'll find my way around from now on." I push the car door open and step out as the heat beats down on the streets of New York City.

I can barely hear the car drive off behind me as I take in the luxurious facade of the building before me.

"P.A.L.A.C.E." I mumble to myself and take a deep breath.

*4 months ago*

"Your father can't make it to your graduation, honey." Mother said softly as she walks with me back to my dorm building. She had come up to visit before her business trip to France for two months. My smile fades and I turn to her, swallowing quietly.

"I don't expect anything from him anymore. The only way he even shows that he supposedly cares is by sending me money every week. You'll be there though, right?" I ask hopefully.

My mother sighs and frowns, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I'm not to sure at the moment, work is hectic and I'm hoping to get a promotion within the next 4 months and if I do I'll-"

"It's fine." I cut her off, shrugging her hand off me. "I almost forgot you and dad were both workaholics."

"Ana-"

"It's fine. Really. It's just my college graduation. You two have missed out on more important events in my life anyway." I say spitefully before tapping my I.D. to the door censor and walking away.

I sigh throwing my phone on my desk and plopping into my chair.

"What's wrong, Ana?" my roommate Sandy asks, looking up from her laptop. We'd known each other for three years of college and I consider her to be my best friend. I glance at her from my desk and she pats the spot next to her on her bed. I sluggishly walk over before taking a seat.

"I got into a small argument with my mom." I tell her.

"Again? I thought you were on good terms now." Sandy frowns.

"Well, when your parents aren't ever really there for you its hard to be on 'good terms.' Neither of them can make it to the graduation ceremony."

"Oh no..." Sandy pulls me into a hug. Her parents had gotten divorced during her sophomore year of college and since then, it had been hard for her to talk to her parents. Due to her parents' hatred for each other, neither of them wanted to go to the graduation in fears of seeing each other.

"I know it's been hard, especially when you worked so hard these past years to prove to your dad that you're independent." She says releasing me from the hug.

"Thanks Sandy, I guess we'll both be alone during our graduations." I say.

"No, we'll have each other." She smiles and I nod.

"You're right."

"Speaking of which, a friend of mine works at Palace-"

"Palace? As in The Palace?" My eyes widen.

"Yep, and he told me they're hiring interns for the summer. This would be a good opportunity to prove to your parents that you'd be just fine without them." Sandy suggests, pulling up Palace's website.

I scan over the requirements and work description listed on the page. I take a deep breath as a wave of determination washed over me.

"I'll do it."

*present time*

As I walked through the revolving doors, I could feel the air getting cooler. The heat from outside diminished and my heels clicked on their marble floors. The windows allowed soft rays of light to stream in and the plants scattered around the lobby added a colorful. organic touch to the modern lobby.

I walked up to the reception counter hoping for some guidance.

"Uhm, excuse me?" I say politely. This catches her attention and she looks up at me from her computer screen.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'm here for my first day as an intern. I'm not sure where to go." I tell her.

"What's your name and who is your supervisor?" she says, clicking away on her computer.

"Ana Williams. I was told that Danny Young would supervise me for the first week." I say, pulling up the email I had received a week prior on my phone.

She stopped typing and eyed me before double checking the email.

"Danny Young? As your supervisor?" She scoffed. "I can't believe they hired someone like you for that position."

I stared back at her, offended. "Someone like me? What does that supposed to mean?"

"Well if your supervisor is Danny Young, you must know who you've been approved to intern under." She says snobbishly, typing away on the keyboard with her long acrylic nails.

"Who...?" I ask slowly, looking at the receptionist confused.

"Don't tell me you didn't do your research before deciding to intern with us." The woman responds rudely.

I blinked, trying to remember the faculty names I had briefly scanned over the night before on their website before but nothing came to mind.

"Is he important?" I bit my lower lip nervously.

The woman rolled her eyes before giving me the most judgmental glare. "He's our CEO. Mr. Lucas King."

I stare back at her blankly as I tried to quickly register what she said.

"C-CEO?" I manage to say, utterly confused. "There must be a mistake, I applied to work for the Hotel Management Branch-"

"Ms. Ana Williams?"

I turn around and see a young man dressed in a black suit approach me. I clear my throat and stand away from the reception counters.

"That's me."

"Hi, I'm Danny, your supervisor." He greets with a kind smile. He extends his hand out and I shake it calmly like how I had rehearsed with Sandy weeks ago.

"Nice to meet you. I'm excited for my first day here but I was just told that I'm going to be working for Luc-"

"Why don't I give you a small tour of the building before we start?" He interrupts me with a smile and leads me to the elevators. There were 6 elevators, three on both sides of the hallway. The light glows and the doors open.

"Oh, sure." I say, taken back by how relaxed he was.

"So from your resume I see that you just recently graduated from college?" Danny asks he presses the button for the lifts. Danny motions for me to step in first. He presses O.

"Yes, I graduated a week ago from my college upstate with a BA in Hotel Management. Having this internship is an honor, thank you so much for accepting my application." I say with a smile.

"Not a problem, you were the most fitting candidate for this position." Danny responds before turning away from the doors. "I think you'll enjoy your experience here at Palace, our facilities are of the best. We have several buildings in the city but as you can see, this is own main building. Floors 2 to 12 are all luxury suite rooms for our elite Palace members, celebrities and such. Floors 13 to 20 are all our management and services offices."

"That's amazing, the organization of this building seems extremely thorough. Hopefully I won't get lost." I say with a soft laugh.

"No worries, you'll be spending most of your time higher up on floors 21 and "O"." Danny reassures.

"Floor O?"

"Yes, the Office floor for our CEO."

"That's the thing I didn't-" Just as I was trying to explain, the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open up to a luxurious penthouse. The glass windows stretched from the ceiling to the ground and the view of the city was breathtaking even from afar. My hand grazes against the soft fabric of the white couch in the center of the space.

"This...is an office?" I say, still trying to take in the view. Even the apartment my parents had bought for me in upper Manhattan didn't have this new of a view or this big of a space. Danny walked through another set of doors, telling me that he would notify the CEO of my arrival.

"She's here." Danny says, proceeding to enter the main office.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Lucas says, slightly agitated.

"You shouldn't keep your employees waiting. You'll come off as a disrespectful boss." Danny says, almost ignoring his words. Having known Lucas for almost his entire life, he knew Lucas prioritized respect and efficiency at work.

"Who?" Lucas barely glances up at his best friend, also his secretary.

"Don't tell me you didn't do your research on your own company's interns." Danny responds almost jokingly.

Lucas glares at him with an eyebrow raised before asking, "Are they important?"

Danny causally approaches his desk and places a matte black folder atop of other various papers. Lucas eyes it before taking and opening it, scanning its contents.

"She's the new intern. And your fiancé."