The woman in red struck first. "Young Master Sawyer, your wife is putting on quite the act. I greeted her politely, and she completely ignored me."
Joshua turned his cold gaze on me. "Faith Delgado. Apologize."
I stared at him.
*Apologize? For what?*
I hadn't done a thing. Why should I bow my head?
I stood my ground, motionless. Joshua's face darkened, his patience snapping.
"I said apologize! Are you deaf?" he roared.
I *was* deaf. But even without sound, his rage radiated off him like heat from a furnace.
Isabella chose that moment to intervene. She linked her arm through Joshua's, her face the picture of feigned concern. "Joshua, don't be angry. Faith might not be feeling well. How about letting her play a piece for everyone? It might lift the mood. She used to be a Level 10 pianist, remember?"
*Play the piano?*
My head snapped up. Isabella's eyes glittered with malice barely hidden beneath her smile. She knew I couldn't hear. Without hearing, I had no control over tempo or pitch. She wasn't asking for music.
She was setting the stage for my public humiliation.
Joshua seemed to think it was a brilliant solution. It would smooth over the awkwardness and project an image of "family harmony."