Stolen Life

The old pickup truck rattled down the familiar dirt road, three years to the day since Ethan Miller had seen this town, this sky. He was finally home, a bag full of expensive gifts on the passenger seat, a fortune in his bank account from the diamond mines of South Africa. He' d survived a collapse, been given up for dead, all for his beloved Olivia and family. He imagined her tears of joy, her arms around him, a future blooming.

But as he approached his house, the scene shattered his hopeful delusions. A new fence, professional landscaping, an expensive sedan in his old rust-bucket' s spot.