Amidst the praise, Isabella lifted her chin slightly, revealing the slender, elegant line of her neck. A subtle, triumphant smile touched her lips.

"Inferior skills?"

Through the buzz of conversation, a girl's cool voice rang out faintly.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it effortlessly silenced all the murmuring.

Serena cast a lazy glance upward, her body slouched casually against the back of her chair. She took an unhurried sip of the lemonade Nicholas had specially prepared for her. Only then did she turn her cool, calm gaze to Karen.

Her lips curved. "If she's won so many awards for piano," she said in a cool voice, "how is her playing worse than that of an ordinary member of the International Music Association?"

Her eyes flicked toward Isabella. "Are the standards for piano competitions really that low these days?"

"What did you say?" Karen's face changed. "Do you even know anything about piano to be critiquing her like that? Isabella has been studying since she was three. What right do you, a country nobody, have to question her?”

The two socialites couldn't help but sneer. "I've studied piano for ten years, and I know how breathtaking Isabella's performance was. You talk about us being jealous... I think you're the one who's twisted with jealousy!"

"Every socialite here has studied piano! Even Mr. Kessler from the International Music Association didn't say a word, but you're the first one to start squawking!"

"Isabella, this girl from the countryside loves to pretend she knows things, isn't it laughable?"

Isabella's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly. Her eyes instinctively darted to Serena, her pupils constricting for a moment in shock.

Serena..... What did she mean? Had she actually heard something?

During her performance, she had indeed made a tiny mistake. It happened right at the beginning when

Coaren took her friends t

confront Serena which had momentarily distracted her. Her mind was entirely focused on how Serena would be humiliated, shamed, and disappoint the

Lancaster family.

But this was the debut of her own original composition. When she made that small error, she had skillfully covered it up. Even a master pianist would have likely thought it was a deliberate part of the arrangement.

How could Serena... a girl who grew up in the country... possibly have noticed?

Right! She couldn't have heard it! She was just spouting nonsense. She didn't know

the first thing about piano, which was why she dared to talk so big.

However, in the next second,

with

Serena's cool voice spoke again, unhurried and steady. "Your original composition is emotionally rich a wonderful atmosphere. It's meant to be a blessing for a dear friend, but the way you played it... the emotional expression was exaggerated and actificial. ut had form but lacked the soul. There was no blessing for a friend, only a cheap display of technical skill."

"Your left-hand octaves were muddy and unclear, sluggish and sticky."

"In the fast-running passages for the right hand, the rhythm in the later measures was clearly unstable, the turns were muddled and chaotic, and you even missed a note."

Serena raised an eyebrow, the curve

of her lips a clear, mocking jab aimed straight at Isabella. "With your level of skill... you've truly ruined this piece And you call yourself a piano genius you deserve an international gold medal?"

Bayou think

Each word was precise and professional, stripping away all the flaws in Isabella's performance.

The way everyone looked at Serena, and then at Isabella, began to change.

The two socialites exchanged a glance.

Wait... This country girl actually knew what she was talking about?

It all sounded so professional!

And in such a short time... besides, while Isabella was playing the piano, Serena

was clearly talking to them. She wasn't even listening.