Chapter 159: No Time to Celebrate
October 29th, 2010
The morning air hung crisp and cold over the Crawley Town training grounds.
Each breath from the players rose in soft clouds, brief and vanishing, like thoughts not yet spoken.
A thin sheen of frost clung to the blades of grass, crunching quietly beneath their boots with every step.
For Dev Patel, the cold cut sharp across his skin but it couldn't reach the warmth blooming quietly inside him.
That warmth had taken root after his conversation with his dad. Something had shifted.
A weight he'd carried all season had lifted not vanished, but transformed.
What replaced it wasn't emptiness, but something stronger.
Purpose.
Out on the pitch, the team moved through drills, the ball thudding rhythmically against leather and turf, a heartbeat that filled the space where Wembley's roars had echoed just days ago.
The "Giant Slayers" were back at work.
But things had changed.
The wild disbelief of toppling Chelsea had faded.
