Chloe waited, the way I had taught her to wait, and only after a polite pause did she reach out and take it.

She managed exactly one small bite.

Then Tristan’s fork shot across the table.

“I wanted that!

I said I wasn’t finished!”

Zachary looked up from his phone, his eyes narrowing at once.

He did not ask what had happened.

He did not ask who had taken what, or whether a full boy had any real claim on a plate he had abandoned.