Chapter 3

"—And since everyone is already here, I am happy to announce to you that Celestine Winter Millstein and Grant Sunday Wilheim are getting married as a start of raising the flag of the Catorse Family in the world. Congratulations!" the emcee said as she clapped her hands to Grant and Celestine.

Getting married? Who? Am I?

Grant was so shocked by the emcee's announcement that his parents did not inform him. The audience is howling and screaming, even his friends are cheering, but Grant cannot see his best friend, Chester. He looked at his parents frowningly, making them know that he was angry for making him shocked like that. He thought that this party was just all about the expansion of all the business of his family and Millstein's, but no one ever told him that this was an announcement for his arranged marriage.

Grant's mother just mouthed, 'I am sorry to him, so he just sighed in defeat. He wanted to go against his family, but he did not have the gut to do that. He does not know what to feel. He was not glad nor angry. He was just shocked and confused about how he will become a good husband to Celestine. However, Grant already got a signal that he would be the first to get married before his twin brother. Besides, there was no problem matching Celestine as he had already known her for a long time.

What concerns Grant the most is his best friend, Chester, who has been in love with Celestine for a long time. He did not see him in the crowd, so maybe Chester was shocked the same as him.

Since the first generation of the Catorse family or the parents are real friends, so were their sons and daughters were friends also. The group of sons and daughters is divided by two—male and female. The name of the male group is Hotdog Kings, while the name of the female line is Chicks Princess. All of the Hotdog Kings and Chicks Princess members are all friends, and they are as strong as their parents. They all lived in the same village in New York City, and they always have vacationed at Catorse Island of Paradise many times.

And to make the story short, Grant and Celestine have been friends ever since they can remember, and Grant knows Celestine even if she always has an expressionless face most of the time.

On the other hand, Celestine greeted the audience with all her might and sincerity, but the expression on her face had no emotions. She was taught to be respectful and kind, but some things are still confusing. The crowd continually greeted her and Grant a 'Congratulations,' when there was nothing to congratulate on.

"Congratulations, you two! I cannot wait for the engagement party."

Engagement party? Is that necessary? Celestine asked herself. Today is the announcement party but do they still need an engagement party? That would be a waste of time and money.

Celestine has no idea, so I will just ask Grant.

Grant was busy watching the crowd, responding to every congratulation he received when some poked on his shoulder. It was Celestine. He looked at her over the shoulder and asked, "Yes?"

Since he was taller than her, Celestine had to look upon him to meet his eyes. When Grant looked down to see her, he saw how cold Celestinne's amber, blue eyes were.

"Is an engagement party necessary?" she asked coldly. If Celestine's eyes are colder than ice, her voice is even colder than the refrigerator.

Grant was taken aback by her question, but he managed to answer her as honestly as possible.

"Hmm... I do not know. It depends on our parents. If they want to throw an engagement party, then there will be an engagement party," he said.

"But... Can we convince them not to throw an engagement party for us? I mean, that would be a waste of money and time," she said without even batting an eyelash. She was saying those words face to face with Grant.

"Besides, instead of throwing another party, why do not we just help those kids in the small province of Africa using the money that our family will be using for the so-called engagement party?" she asked.

Imagine Celestine saying those warm and touching words, but her voice, face, and eyes are seemed emotionless, bored, and uninterested.

That was probably why everyone in the Catorse Family, including the parents, daughters, and sons, does not underestimate Celestine even if she does not feel any emotion. And that was because the whole Catorse Family knows how kind and soft Celestine is.

Well, an alexithymia condition does not make someone terrible and rude. Patients with alexithymia do not really mean that a person does not feel anything. Alexithymia means being unable to determine what emotion that person was feeling and finding it difficult also to determine other people's emotions around him or her.

Grant was shocked by the reason why Celestine did not want to throw an engagement party for them, but he looked at her again and answered, "Hmmm... I think we could tell that to them. You know our parents, they are very understanding," he said assuringly.

Celestine paused for a minute, maybe to think. Then later on she nodded and said, "Okay. Later I will them."

Kobe softly chuckled at Celestine because she looked like a kid following all the instructions given to her but of course, without any expression on her face. Celestine looked away after nodding at him, but they were still holding each other's hands.

Grant could feel that Celestine's hand was cold, but he could not see any sign of nervous expression on her face. Is she nervous? He asked himself.

With that assumption, Grant squeezed Celestine's hand to give her a signal, and she got it because she looked at him then asked, "Yes?"

"Are you nervous?" Grant asked in concern while waiting for Celestine's response.

On the other hand, Celestine just looked at Grant expressionless as she did not know how to answer his question. She could not determine what she was feeling and if she was feeling nervous or not. But she admits that her heart was racing because of what she heard in the announcement, but she could not express it on her face. She could not determine what it was.

Just what the hell is this nagging feeling? Why do I feel like butterflies are circulating in my stomach just because I heard that I will be marrying Grant?