ICEBREAKER: DARK RUNION OF FIRE

6. FACING MY PAST

Fanny Rose POV

As the call ended, I slowly lowered my phone and turned. Steffan was already watching me, his expression calm but searching. I opened my mouth to speak, but he stepped closer and gently pressed his fingers against my lips, stopping me before I could begin.

“I heard enough,” he said quietly. “I just wish this didn’t come now… not when things are finally starting to feel right for us.”

He insisted on staying with me that evening. The house was already settled, Bria moving quietly between rooms, and the familiar comfort of my space suddenly felt fragile. I could already tell that from this moment forward; nothing was ever going to remain the same.

Steffan had heard everything Jane said. He had asked me about my past more than once, and I told him almost all of it, how I lost control, how I hurt someone, and how I ran away before the consequences could catch up with me.

The only thing I never said was who that person was. I never told him that the man I stabbed was Fred Lawson, the face of campus ice hockey, the one name that could drag me straight back into chaos if spoken out loud.

Steffan stayed calm through it all. He even offered to come with me, but I refused. I asked him to stay back and help keep things running because I didn’t know what I would be walking into. If things turned ugly, I needed something stable waiting for me here.

What weighed on me even more was the team. The girls had been waiting for me to fully recover and return to the rink. They trained harder because they believed I would lead them again. Leaving now felt like abandoning something I had built with my own hands.

I had no choice. I would go, settle what needed to be settled, and come back. If I delayed, everything my father left behind could vanish. I wasn’t about to lose that too.

Just then, Bria stepped into the room, her eyes moving between Steffan and me. She could already tell something had shifted.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she said.

I let out a slow breath. “I have to. My family situation is worse than I thought, and I’m the only one who can fix it. I need you to help keep everything steady while I’m gone.”

Bria folded her arms, studying me. “What’s actually going on? Are you really going back after everything?”

“I don’t have a choice,” I replied. “But I’m coming back. Nothing here is getting abandoned.”

She nodded slowly. “Then I’ll hold things down. Just don’t disappear on me.”

“I won’t,” I said.

Not long after, word must have spread, because the girls from the team started showing up one after another. Some still in training gear, some out of breath, all of them looking at me like I had just said something unbelievable.

I stood in front of them and didn’t soften it. “I’m leaving tonight.”

Silence fell instantly. “You can’t be serious,” one of them said.

“What about the match?” another added. “You promised you’d lead us.”

I swallowed hard. “I know what I promised. But this is something I have to do. It won’t be forever.”

The captain stepped forward. “Then give us one last game before you go, a proper one. Not training.”

The others nodded, raising their voices in agreement. I hesitated for only a moment… then gave in. “Fine. One last match.”

We moved to the rink not long after. Under the cold lights, with the air biting against our skin, we played like it was more than just a game. Every pass, every collision, every shot carried something unspoken. It wasn’t about winning anymore; it was about leaving something behind.

When it ended, no one spoke at first. Then they started gathering around me. I hugged them, one after the other, holding on a little longer than I should have. My chest tightened, and I could feel tears threatening, but I held them back. They didn’t need to see me break.

Bria stepped in eventually, pulling them away gently, giving me space before the moment became too heavy. I was going back to face people who were ready to tear each other apart over money and power. I was going to claim what was mine. I was going to stand against my stepmother and my brother for what my father had left me.

My brother… the thought of him still irritated me. If he had taken anything in life seriously, if he had built something for himself instead of waiting to inherit, we wouldn’t be here now.

I had always been reckless, quick to act, and my father never stopped reminding me of it. But at least I learned to survive. Now everything he built was at risk, and I wasn’t going to sit back and watch it get stripped away.

And beyond all that… there was him, Fred Lawson, the one person I never wanted to see again, the one person I almost killed.

I picked up my phone and called Jane. She answered almost immediately. “Finally. Are you coming back, or should I come drag you myself?” she said without greeting.

“I’m coming tonight,” I replied. “But I need your help. Keep my mother and my brother out of the house for a while. I need space to handle things before they start anything.”

“Done,” she said. “Anything else?”

“No. I’m on my way.”

By the time I left, the sky had already darkened. The drive felt longer than it should have, every passing mile dragging me closer to something I wasn’t ready to face.

When I finally entered the town, it was late. The streets were quieter than I remembered, but nothing felt unfamiliar.

My heart slammed against my chest; this was more than a return; this was me walking straight into hell itself. Everything felt very wrong, especially the lingering thoughts about being a fugitive in my very own land, a place I was brought up.

The moment the car I was in crossed into Vancouver, an uneasy feeling settled heavily in my mind. It had only been several months since I left. Too many memories were buried in this city, and none of them ended well for me.

I tightened my grip on my bag and exhaled slowly, staring out through the window as the vehicle slowed near a small bar beside the riverside.

I needed to make a withdrawal first before figuring out where I would stay for the night. My mind was already exhausted from overthinking every possible thing that could go wrong.

The streets behind the bar were quieter than I expected.

I had barely stepped out of the public car when somebody grabbed me violently from behind.

A knife pressed against my neck instantly.

“Don’t f*****g move,” the man hissed into my ear.

Fear shot through me immediately as two other men snatched my bag from my shoulder and emptied everything onto the concrete floor.

My cards, phone, cash, and documents scattered everywhere while they searched through them aggressively.

“Where’s the rest of the money?” one growled.

My breathing became uneven as panic slowly settled in my chest.

Then I noticed someone approaching from a distance.

The closer he came, the harder my heart pounded.

There was something painfully familiar about the way he walked.