Chapter 1 - Look At What The Cat Dragged In

'This doesn't seem right.'

This was the thought that kept running through my head as I sat on the sofa and contemplated to what exactly led me to be here.

Here I am sitting at the center of the foyer in a plush chair surrounded by my friends, who each attempted to pull my attention to both sing the praises of the upcoming wedding and simultaneously fawn over how I was doing at the moment.

All eyes were on me and while this in theory would be nice if I was the one getting married, this isn't my engagement.

The engagement party is actually for one of my other friends, Rebecca Watson. She and her fiancé invited myself among other heirs and heiresses to congratulate them.

This seemingly became a common occurrence in our circle, especially now as we all were reaching our mid 20s and marriage to further solidify or increase our prestige was of upmost importance.

Every couple of months others were announcing the same thing and this rodeo would repeat itself over and over. As it stood before today, Rebecca and I were one of the last ones to be unmarried.

That in itself wasn't the issue. The issue was despite the day being about my friend and her fiancé, despite my best efforts to avoid it; I somehow, again, was corralled into the spotlight. I had very little opportunity to step away.

I knew it was because of my familial status but it still didn't sit right in my heart. I looked towards Rebecca to see if she would say something, but much like every other time no one said anything against it and she even seemed pleased by everyones behavior.

'This is a special day for Rebecca not me. I even came late this time to avoid this.' I complained to myself. Mentally, I was very sour at the inevitability of events. But, I didn't want to bring down those at the party so externally, I put on the same mask it always has.

A soft smile and gentle eyes like I was unbothered. You imagine someone poised and serene and that would describe me.

"Celeste, who is your designer again? Every look you have is absolutely stunning! Do they make wedding dresses? If so you must refer them to me, I want to look like a princess on my special day!" Rebecca asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I know right! Celeste, I mean, look at the dress you are wearing right now. The shape, the color, the movement. Ugh! It is to die for!" said Noemi Evans, my other friend. The dress I was wearing was simple compared to what others were wearing, it was a pale blue long silk dress. It was tailored to fit to my body shape as in my opinion it was not traditionally womanly.

"My designer is Gina Pierce. I am not too certain if she is taking in other clients right now but I would be happy to ask her if she has any wedding dress designers or recommendations." This seemed to appease the bride to be and the conversation shifted to possible floral ideas.

While I do enjoy talking amongst my peers, today in particular, I wasn't feeling all that well.

My stomach and lower back were killing me.

I wanted to raincheck but considering I went to every other engagement party, I didn't want Rebecca to feel like I didn't care or that I was petty at being the last one to be unmarried.

Ironically, I was actually the first to be engaged. But due to some painful circumstances, it was dissolved and now here I am being the last one. Or maybe everyone else was in a hurry to get married. It was exhausting trying to appear happy when inside I was dying.

'Maybe I can try to sneak into the bathroom to text my mom to call the driver so I can leave to lie down.' However, before I could even take my plan into action, a couple walked into the foyer and loudly announced their arrival.

"Hello everyone! It is so nice to finally meet you all!" The voice pierced through every conversation in the room and a ominous silence settled in. The group I was with, all turned so suddenly to the voice it startled me slightly. However, when I glanced over to see the ruckus, I felt the blood drain from my face.

The young woman and man waltzed in side by side seeming to not care of the disturbance their presence created as they made their way towards the group. The woman who caused the rift flushed a soft shade of pink as she noticed what her words caused but despite that she continued on anyways.

"Thank you so much for the invite Rebecca, I can call you Rebecca right? Wow, so many people have already arrived I hope we are not too late!" The woman continued to speak clearly pushing through the tense atmosphere to try to warm up the crowd.

"Felix I see you did end up coming after all!" Boomed the voice of Alan Fulton, Rebeccas fiancé. The men who were outside by the swimming pool made their way in after they realized the chatter between us inside had stopped suddenly.

"And you brought a friend." He continued though at this point there was a slight hostility laced in the tone.

"You invited her?" Noemi whispered, shooting an accusatory look at Rebecca. "No… the only person I invited was Felix, I never imagined he would bring… that… in here." Rebecca quietly huffed and and ever so slightly looked over in my direction.

Felix Carter was my former fiancé but he broke off our relationship and engagement because he claimed to have fallen for someone else among other more petty and painful things. However, not even a month after, he got engaged again but this time to his 'real' love.

The only reason I knew at least the name of the other woman was because he had the nerve to send me an invitation to their engagement. But I never saw her face. I was out of the country at the time so even if I was insane and wanted to attend I couldn't.

Everyone in our friend group didn't attend however, because they felt it was very disrespectful to me and my family, but as time went on he soon rejoined the group.

I partially suspect that it is because of his familial status which is one rank below mine. So they could only do so much before facing real consequences for disrespecting him.

But I am almost certain the cold war would have continued if I didn't say that it was fine and I am ok. I didn't want anyone I was close with to suffer just for picking a side. And truthfully, I was mentally too tired to even care about him. Nonetheless, despite the raising of the white flag, the air is still awkward.

Her name is Sol Banks, and in the eyes of the upper class she was a nobody as her family background was of the common folk. But to Felix, she is very important somebody, somebody worthy enough to break away from marrying into the most wealthiest family.

"Rebecca I hope you don't mind I brought Sol with me. Since we are also going to be married soon I figured it would be best to introduce her to the clique since she will be spending more time with everyone." Felix glanced around as he spoke to the group.

That was surprising. We were 21 when we broke off the engagement but now here at 26 he still is just engaged? Seeing her and learning all this new information against my will was just too much when I was already not feeling well. I subtly placed my hands together to massage them to calm myself down.

Not answering his question, I felt all eyes were on me to see my reaction. Everyone wanted to see what move they should make once I set the tone. Since that night, I had not seen or spoken to Felix so I never really got a chance to prepare myself for when inevitably we would face one another again.

'What does one even say to their former fiancé? This isn't even my event so who cares what I think. I don't know what to do. Someone do something!' I prayed hoping that someone takes the hint. That was when another voice resonated in the room thankfully taking charge. "Look at what the cat dragged in."