The morning sun hit the breakfast table in the Hudson Valley estate, illuminating a scene that should have been idyllic.Noah was at the stove, flipping pancakes. Liam, now five, was sitting at the counter, meticulously stacking blueberries into a pyramid. Theo, thirteen, was scrolling through his phone, headphones on, existing in a teenage bubble of silence.And Emma... Emma was eleven.She sat at the end of the table, staring into her bowl of yogurt as if it contained the secrets of the universe, and she hated all of them."Emma," Aria said, passing a pitcher of juice. "Do you want pancakes?""I'm not hungry," Emma said. She didn't look up."It's Saturday," Noah said cheerfully, sliding a plate onto the table. "Pancakes are mandatory.""I said I'm not hungry," Emma snapped.The silence that followed was sharp. Liam knocked over his blueberry pyramid. Theo looked up from his phone, raising an eyebrow."Hey," Noah said, his voice dropping the cheerfulness. "We don't speak like that."
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