When Survival Means Disappearing: Inside Lacey’s impossible choice

Sometimes the moment you think you’ve finally found a way forward is the exact moment everything falls apart.

Lacey thought she had time to fix things with Soren—to give him space, then find a way back to the man she couldn’t stop caring about. But before she gets that chance, the past comes crashing through the door.

And when the flames rise, Lacey is forced to make an impossible choice: disappear and let the man she loves believe she’s dead… or risk everything to stay alive.

Read the excerpt below from After Everything—a story of secrets, second chances, and a love that refuses to die.

Lacey barely noticed the turns, the traffic, or the hum of the scooter beneath her as she rode back to the Iron Zebra. Her mind kept replaying the conversation in the café—every word, every look, the moment Soren’s expression had hardened and shut her out.

She hadn’t meant for it to go that way.

She pulled up outside the Iron Zebra, the familiar sign hanging above the door. The bar wouldn’t open for another hour, and the street was quiet except for the occasional passing car.

She parked, killed the engine, and sat there for a second, hands still gripping the handlebars.

Had she just blown up whatever fragile thread still connected her and Soren?

The thought settled heavy in her chest as she climbed the stairs to the apartment above the bar. Inside, the space felt too still—like it was waiting for something she couldn’t name.

She dropped her keys on the counter and started pacing. “I shouldn’t have pushed that hard,” she muttered.

But even as the words left her mouth, something inside her resisted.

He needed to hear it.

Didn’t he?

She pressed her lips together, frustration tangling with regret. “God, I don’t know what I just did.”

With a sigh, she stopped in the middle of the room and closed her eyes. “He’s so stuck,” she whispered. “It’s like he’s still carrying everything from back then… and he won’t let anyone close enough to help him out of it.”

His face flashed in her mind—the anger, yes, but beneath it… something deeper. Hurt. Defensiveness. Fear, maybe.

She let out a slow breath. “If I’m supposed to do something different, I need You to show me, God. Because I don’t want to lose him.”

That was the truth of it.

Not just the easy version of Soren—the one who laughed with her on the river, who felt familiar and safe—but all of him.

Even the messy parts.

Even the parts that pushed her away.

Her gaze drifted toward the window.

She’d give him some time. Let him cool off. Then try again.

It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it would have to be enough—for now.

She’d just turned toward the kitchen when the door burst open.

She jumped.

Dante filled the doorway, breath coming fast, eyes sharp and alert in a way that instantly sent her pulse spiking.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said.

Every nerve in her body snapped to attention. “What kind of problem?”

“Angus.”

The name hit like a punch.

“What about him?” she said.

“We just got word—he knows where you are.”

Her stomach dropped. “How?”

“No time.” Dante crossed the room in two strides. “We have to move. Now.”

Adrenaline surged, wiping out the lingering emotional fog from earlier. “What’s the plan?”

He gestured toward the back of the building. “Stairwell. Then through the connecting door into the liquor store.”

She grabbed her go bag, already moving. “And after that?”

“We get you somewhere safe.”

“That’s not much of a plan,” she shot back, keeping pace with him as they headed for the stairwell.

“It’s what we’ve got so far,” he said.

They slipped through the door and into the narrow stairwell. Their footsteps echoing as they moved quickly down the steps.

He pushed the door open at the bottom, and she followed him into the back hallway that connected to the liquor store next door. The smell of stale beer and cleaning solution hit her immediately.

“Dante, what aren’t you telling me?” she demanded, grabbing his arm long enough to make him look at her.

His jaw tightened. “He’s not just looking to scare you, Lacey. He wants to—”

A deafening boom ripped through the air.

The world exploded.

The force slammed into them from behind, throwing Lacey forward. She hit the floor hard, the breath knocked from her lungs as glass shattered and something heavy crashed nearby.

For a second, there was nothing but ringing.

Then—

Fire.

A roar like a living thing.

She sucked in a breath, coughing as the air filled with smoke and dust. Her head spun as she pushed herself up onto her elbows.

“Dante?”

“I’m here.” His voice cut through the chaos, rough but steady.

Relief surged as she spotted him on his knees a few feet away.

“What—” Her voice broke as she looked toward the back wall.

Or what was left of it.

Flames shot outward from the direction of the Iron Zebra, a massive fireball tearing into the morning sky. Smoke billowed thick and black, swallowing the bar, Tillie’s apartment… everything.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

They’d made it out with only seconds to spare.

Dante grabbed her arm, pulling her lower as another crack echoed and the ceiling groaned overhead. “We need to go.”

“Wait—” Her gaze locked on the inferno, horror rooting her in place. “There could be people—Tillie—”

“She’s not there yet,” Dante said. “I checked before I came up. Lacey—listen to me.”

Something in his tone cut through the panic.

“What?” she said, her pulse still hammering.

He hesitated just long enough to confirm she wasn’t going to like what came next.

“Angus wanted you dead,” he said. “Not scared. Not warned.”

“I got that part.”

“And now…” His gaze flicked toward the flames, then back to her. “Now he’s going to think he succeeded.”

The words didn’t fully land at first.

Then they did.

A chill slid through her. “You can’t be serious.”

“If he thinks you’re alive, he doesn’t stop,” Dante said. “He keeps coming. Harder. Smarter. If we disappear you—off-grid, no digital trail, no sightings—we can use the window to build a case, track him, and take him down before he realizes the truth.”

She stared at him, her mind racing. “You’re asking me to let everyone think I’m dead.”

“I’m asking you to stay alive,” he said, something fierce in his tone.

Soren’s face flashed in her mind.

The things she’d said.

Things she hadn’t said.

The way he’d walked away.

Dante’s expression hardened, but there was something almost sympathetic beneath it. “If Angus believes you survived, you won’t get another chance to argue about this.”

Another crash sounded, closer this time. The building groaned again, flames licking higher.

She closed her eyes. “God, I don’t understand. But if this is the way—if this is how You protect me—then I need You to take care of the people I’m leaving behind.”

A fragile peace settled in, not enough to erase the fear—but enough to move.

She opened her eyes. “When do we leave?”

“Now.” Dante pulled her toward the back exit. “And Lacey?”

She glanced at him.

“Until we get Angus, you don’t exist.”

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