**Fate Favours the Grateful**
By the time he turned thirty, Stan had spent ten years serving in conflict zones, been wounded twice, yet fate had spared him. After his second serious injury, he spent months recovering in hospital before returning to his hometown in the countryside.
The village had changed in his absenceso had the people. His old classmates had all married, but one day, Stan spotted Lily. He barely recognised her. When hed left for the army, shed been a girl of thirteen. Now, at twenty-five, she was a beautystill unmarried. She hadnt met a man worth marrying, and she refused to settle for less.
Stan, broad-shouldered and steadfast, with a strong sense of justice, couldnt walk past her.
“Did you wait for me? Still not married?” he teased, smiling at the lovely woman before him.
“Maybe,” she replied, blushing. Her heart fluttered unexpectedly.
From then on, they were inseparable. Late autumn leaves crunched underfoot as they walked along the forests edge.
“Stan,” Lily said sadly after hed proposed twice, “my father wont allow it. You know what hes like.”
“Whats he going to do? Im not afraid of him,” Stan declared. “If he lays a hand on me, hell end up in prisonthen he wont be a problem.”
“Oh, Stan, you dont understand. Hes ruthless, and he controls everything here.”
John Matthews was the most powerful man in the village. Once a businessman, rumours now linked him to organised crime. Stocky, cold-eyed, and brutal, hed built two farms in his youth, raising cattle and pigs. Half the village worked for him, bowing and scraping as if he were a king.
“My father wont let us marry,” Lily said. “He wants me to wed his friends son from the next townsome drunkard named Vincent. Ive told him a hundred times I wont.”
“Lily, this isnt the Middle Ages. No one can force you to marry someone you dont love,” Stan said, baffled.
He adored everything about herher tender gaze, her fiery spirit. She couldnt imagine life without him.
“Come on,” he said suddenly, gripping her hand and quickening his pace.
“Where?” She had a guess but couldnt stop him.
In the yard of the grand house, John was speaking to his younger brother Simon, who lived in the guesthouse and did his bidding.
“Mr. Matthews,” Stan said firmly, “Lily and I want to marry. Im asking for her hand.”
Lilys mother stood on the porch, hand over her mouth, watching her tyrant husband fearfully.
Johns face darkened at Stans audacity. “Get out of here,” he snarled. “My daughter will never marry a washed-up soldier like you. Forget this path.”
“Well marry anyway,” Stan said evenly.
The villagers respected Stan, but John had never known warto him, money meant everything. Fists clenched, Stan barely held back as Simon stepped between them.
While Simon ushered Stan out, John dragged Lily inside like a child. He never tolerated defiance.
That night, in the damp autumn air, Stans newly opened garage burned to the ground.
“Bastard,” Stan muttered, knowing exactly who was responsible.
The next night, Stan crept to Lilys house. Hed texted her to pack her thingsthey were leaving. She agreed without hesitation. From her window, she passed him a bag, then climbed down into his arms.
“By morning, well be far away,” he whispered. “I love you more than you know.”
Lily clung to him. “Im scared.”
Ten minutes later, they were speeding down the motorway. Lilys breath caught as headlights flashed behind them. A Mercedes overtook them, cutting them off.
John yanked Lily out while two thugs beat Stan senseless before driving off, leaving him bruised on the roadside.
Stan barely made it home, recovering for a week. The garage fire was dismissed as faulty wiring. Worse, Lily had vanishedher phone was dead.
John had sent her to his sister Vera in London with a warning: “Keep her inside. No phone. If she comes back, Ill bury that fool in the woods.”
Vera shook her head. “John, why ruin her life?”
She led Lily to a room, hoping time would soften her brother.
John spread rumours that Lily was marrying Vincent soon and would never return.
“Your father will calm down,” Vera said. “Find work, build a life.”
“Without Stan?”
“Without him.”
Weeks later, Lily discovered she was pregnant. Vera pitied her. “Your father cant know.”
Lily wept, desperate to tell Stanbut her phone was gone, and she didnt remember his number.
“I hate him,” she sobbed. “Hes not human.” Vera stayed silent. Hed broken many lives.
Time passed. Stan couldnt forget Lily. He worked, drank briefly, then stopped. Meanwhile, Lily gave birth to a son, Matthewthe image of his father. Her mother visited secretly; John never knew.
Four years later, spring blossoms filled the air when Lilys mother arrived at Veras, distraught.
“Johns dying,” she cried. “Cancer. The doctor said its too late.”
No one mourned him. Hed spent his life trampling others.
At the funeral, few attended. “He got what he deserved,” villagers muttered.
Stan, away on contract work, knew nothing. Lily finally returned home. Her mother, freed from Johns tyranny, had even removed his photos.
Two weeks later, Lily walked with Matthew along the forest edge. He chased butterflies while she sat on a fallen log, reminiscing.
Then she felt itStan was near.
“Lily,” he called softly. They ran to each other.
He looked older, weary. She was as beautiful as ever.
“Stan, forgive me,” she whispered. “You never knew about your son.”
Matthew ran over. Stan needed no explanationthe boy was his mirror image.
“My boy!” He lifted him high, laughing. “Im never letting you go.”
“Daddy,” Matthew said, “can I have a football?”
“Right now, son. Anything you want.” Stan smiled at Lily, who nodded tearfully.
She was grateful to fate for reuniting themand fate, loving the grateful, rewarded them with happiness.
