How was she supposed to answer that?
Admit it?
If she did, all her efforts today would be for nothing!
More importantly, in a setting like this, it would be a massive humiliation!
From now on, no matter how many piano competitions she won, no one would ever believe she had real talent.
Deny it?
How could she even begin to deny it?
Although she thought she had covered her mistakes well, Serena had heard them. What if someone else had, too?
Isabella was caught between a rock and a hard place.
She was furious.
That damned country girl, Serena, had to be targeting her on purpose, right?
She was deliberately trying to embarrass her at this event!
She wanted the Blackwood family to mock her and the Lancaster family to look down on her.
Serena was doing this to drive her out of the Lancaster family!
The more Isabella thought about it, the angrier she became.
Elara Hale was still stoking the flames. "Isabella, why aren't you talking? Are you just not a talkative person by nature?”
The way she said "Isabella" was laced with mockery.
Isabella was so enraged her lips trembled.
Her face was ashen. If she remained silent, there was no telling what else Elara Hale would say to fan the fire.
Isabella's mind raced as she concocted an excuse. Just as she was about to speak, Elara seemed to read her mind and cut her off again. "You know what? It doesn't matter whether you answer or not."
Then, she raised her eyes and looked toward Old Mr. Blackwood and the others at the main table, a
smile playing on her lips. "Old Met
Blackwood, Brianna, since someone has raised an objection to Miss Lancaster's performance, think... we should ask Mr. Kessler to offer his professional opinion and see if the young lady's assessment was correct."
Mr. Kessler was the Vice President of the International Music Association; a highly respected
figure in the music world. His prano skills were considered masterful, earning him the moniker of the "Maestro."
Him stepping in would indeed be the fairest way to settle this.
The words Isabella was about to say were caught in her throat.
She felt stuck, and it was excruciating.
She was certain of it.
Elara Hale was doing this on purpose!
Her eyes reddened with fury, and she was about to speak.
“Miss Hale, there's no need to stir up trouble. Everyone here is capable of judging Isabella's skills for themselves. It won't be so easily swayed by a few careless words from certain people."
f.n
Karen had already spoken up, placing a hand on Isabella's arm. She offered a gracious, poised smile as her gaze locked onto Serena. "Since this Miss Lancaster was able to tell with one....oh, my mistake, with one listen all the problems in Isabella's original piece, and speak about them so eloquently, to the point of criticizing Isabella's work as worthless..."
"Then your own piano skills must be extraordinary, far beyond any of ours."
"Why don't you, Miss Lancaster, grace us with a performance yourself to show us what true skill looks like? That would surely convince us, wouldn't it?"
Every word was deliberately inflammatory.
Elara Hale scoffed. "Who cares how she figured it out or what her skills are? All you need to know is that Miss Lancaster's original piece had flaws. That's a fact, and that's enough."
The more she tried to de-escalate, the more Karen pressed. "What's the matter? Is your Miss Lancaster scared? You act like such a professional, but you don't even have the courage to perform on stage?"
"If that's the case, am I right to assume that everything she just said was complete nonsense, deliberately fabricated to slander Isabella?"
Karen simply didn't believe that Serena, a country girl who had been expelled before even finishing high school, could play the piano.