When Tímea returned home from her night shift that day, she had no idea her life was about to change with a single sentence. She was exhausted, and one thought kept circling in her mind: had Lili made it through the night without an attack? Her six-year-old daughter needed constant care, examinations, and medications they no longer had money for.
In front of their house stood a car she had never seen before — black, elegant, with a polished sheen. And next to it stood a man: Kiss Iván, owner of a chain of gas stations and one of the richest people in the country.
“Ms. Tímea,” he said, walking toward her slowly. “We need to talk.”
For a moment she thought she was in trouble. That she had done something wrong at work. But Iván’s face was calm, serious, almost sorrowful.
“I’ve known you for years. I know how hard-working and kind you are. And I know what you’re struggling with,” he began. “That’s why I have a proposal. Unusual… but sincere.”
Then he spoke the words Tímea simply could not comprehend.
“I want you to become the wife of my son, Sztavros.”
Tímea staggered, trying to find meaning in that sentence.
“But… Mr. Kiss, I don’t even know your son!”
Iván took a deep breath.
“He’s been paralyzed since an accident seven years ago. Physically alive… but mentally lost. He hasn’t spoken to me for months. He doesn’t want to eat. Doesn’t want to fight. He needs a spark — someone who can stir something inside him. You are the last person who might be able to make a difference.”
Tímea shook her head.
“There are many women… young, beautiful…”
“They don’t interest him,” Iván interrupted quietly. “But you — he once noticed you. When you were cleaning at the station, he was sitting in the car. He saw the tenderness with which you spoke to Lili. I will never forget when he said: ‘Dad, that woman carries light in her.’ And then… he drifted away from me forever.”
Tímea felt her knees weaken.
“You want me to marry someone who… doesn’t even know me?”
“Someone who once remembered you,” Iván corrected. “I’m offering a one-year contract. You’ll live with us, complete security, full medical care for Lili — in the best clinic, without limits. If after a year nothing changes, you will leave free and wealthy. If it works… my son will get his life back.”
Then he added:
“Please… I beg you as a father.”
Tímea thought about it for a long time, but the answer came later — when Lili had another attack, so severe that an ambulance rushed her to the emergency room. Hearing the doctor whisper, “She needs a clinic in the capital. Otherwise she won’t make it,” Tímea reached for her phone.
“Mr. Kiss… I agree.”
The next day a luxury car arrived for her. Lili squealed with delight, touching the soft leather seats.
Iván tried to make her laugh, while Tímea… felt only fear.
When they reached the Kiss estate, the house looked more like a palace than a home. Tímea trembled, holding her daughter’s hand tightly.
“Don’t worry,” Iván whispered. “He’s gentle. Just… broken.”
She met Sztavros that evening.
He sat in a room upstairs, by the window. His large hands rested motionless on the wheels of his chair. He had dark hair, a few days’ stubble, and eyes that held an ocean of pain.
He didn’t look up when they entered.
“Sztavros,” Iván said gently, “I’d like you to meet Tímea and her daughter, Lili.”
“Why?” the man muttered. “You always have some plan.”
Tímea approached fearlessly.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said softly. “I came… just to talk.”
And then Sztavros looked up.
His gaze hit her like a sudden gust — surprised, searching, cautious. And… familiar?
“I know you…” he whispered.
Tímea froze.
“From the gas station,” he finished.
It was the first time in years that his voice carried life.
Weeks passed.
Tímea didn’t pressure him. She talked about everyday things, Lili sang him songs, and he — to the doctors’ astonishment — began to respond.
One morning, Tímea walked into the living room and stopped dead.
Sztavros was sitting… on the balcony. Alone.
“How… how did you get there?!” she asked.
He gave her a faint smile.
“I wanted to feel the wind.”
And in that moment, she felt something she feared: affection.
Perhaps… even more.
The real change came the day Lili returned from the hospital after her first round of tests. She was weak and crying, clinging to her mother.
Sztavros watched in alarm.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s fighting,” Tímea said. “And I have to be strong for her.”
Unexpectedly, Sztavros rolled toward them and touched the girl’s tiny hand.
“Lili, if you want… I can read you stories.”
The child stopped crying.
“I want that!”
Tímea’s eyes filled with tears.
For the first time, she understood: he didn’t need a wife.
He needed… a family.
Months passed.
Tímea and Sztavros spent more and more time together. He learned to manage the pain, made progress in rehabilitation, even took his first steps in special braces.
One evening he said:
“Tímea… if after a year you want to leave… I won’t stop you. But I… I love you. You and Lili. For the first time since the accident, I feel… human again.”
Tímea felt her throat tighten.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “Not because of the contract. Because of you.”
A year later, there was no divorce.
There was a wedding — small, quiet, and sincere.
And little Lili running between the guests shouting:
“Mommy is marrying a prince!”
And in a way — she was right.
Because not every prince stands on his own two feet.
But every prince who knows how to love… is a hero.