Part 328th Runaway, I Let Her Go.

On the first day of Aria's hunger strike, David couldn't hold out.

He snuck upstairs with a plate of her favorite food: sweet and sour ribs and fried chicken.

Aria didn't even look up. She simply swiped the plate off his hands, sending it crashing to the floor.

"I don't need your fake kindness! Get out!"

The moment I heard the crash, I stormed into the room and pulled David out.

"She's not eating? Then let her starve," I told him firmly. "From now on, we are not going to interfere. Aria's behavior is getting more and more extreme. If we keep giving in, she's going to do something truly terrible one day. This time, you will not indulge her. Do you understand me?"

David looked torn, but after a long, hard look from me, he finally nodded.

On the second day, we didn't bring her any food.

Realizing we were serious, she started making a racket upstairs. We heard the distinct sound of glass shattering. In the past, I would have run up, terrified she had hurt herself. This time, I steeled myself and ignored it.

"Don't look up," I told Gina and David at the dinner table. "Just keep eating."

Sure enough, late that night, after we had all gone to our rooms, I heard faint footsteps creaking on the stairs. Aria, driven by hunger, was sneaking down to the kitchen. She quietly opened the fridge, grabbed a bag of bread, and started stuffing it into her mouth like a starved animal.

I had been waiting. I walked out of my bedroom and flipped on the kitchen light.

She jumped, dropping the bread on the floor. Caught in the act, her bravado vanished, replaced by a flush of embarrassment.

I sighed. Seeing how thin she looked already, a pang of pity shot through me. I went to the microwave and pulled out the plate of food I had saved for her.

"Can we please stop this?" I said softly. "Just eat."

This time, she didn't fight. She sat down and cleaned the plate.

I reached out and stroked her hair. "Aria, I promise you, I love you so, so much. Even with a sister, that love hasn't changed. Deep down, you know that, don't you?"

My voice was pleading. "So please, can you stop all this? I'm begging you."

Aria swallowed the last piece of rib, set down her fork, and walked back to her room without a word.

The next morning, the hunger strike was over. She came downstairs and ate breakfast with us. I carefully divided the food, using the scale to ensure her portion was identical to Gina's down to the last gram.

The meal was silent.

Then, Gina spoke up, her voice small. "Aria… do you want to walk home from school together today?"

Aria was quiet for a long moment. Then, looking down at her plate, she mumbled, "Okay."

A huge wave of relief washed over me. I thought, finally, we had turned a corner.

I had no idea the real nightmare was just beginning.