A story with the help of ChatGPT and major news outlets.
序章
紐約市脈動著財富與絕望的節奏，其高聳的天際線是野心與不平等的紀念碑。在一個寒冷的十二月夜晚，城市被一種不尋常的恐懼所籠罩。ProVital保險公司的首席執行官艾倫·溫思羅普被發現綁在他頂層辦公室的椅子上。在他旁邊的大理石地板上，用血紅色的油漆寫著三個字：否認，辯護，罷免。
犯罪現場既令人毛骨悚然又顯得刻意。溫思羅普雖然昏迷但還活著，身上沒有任何外傷——但其含義顯而易見。無論是誰做的，都想讓他感受到比痛苦更持久的東西：恐懼。
事件
偵探埃琳娜·克魯茲站在頂層辦公室裏，盯著那些字。房間裏隱約有油漆和皮革的氣味，溫思羅普的桌子上還殘留著淡淡的雪茄煙味。一個文件夾攤開著，裏麵詳細記錄了被認為“非必要”治療的拒絕索賠。
“信息很明確，”克魯茲喃喃道，瞥了一眼她的搭檔馬利克警官。“這是個人恩怨。有人想讓他知道他們為什麽生氣。”
紐約警察局整夜在該地區搜查。在附近的垃圾桶裏發現了一瓶仍然溫熱的黑咖啡，以及在入口附近幾步遠處丟棄的一個一次性手機。兩者都被送往實驗室進行指紋和DNA檢測。
義警
三周前，丹尼爾·巴爾加斯坐在他妻子的病床旁。索菲亞，他的高中戀人，正因白血病而垂死。醫生們曾懇求ProVital批準一種有希望的實驗性治療。答案卻是冷冰冰的：拒絕。
索菲亞兩天後去世。巴爾加斯的悲痛變成了憤怒。他夜以繼日地研究ProVital，深入公共記錄和新聞文章。他了解到溫思羅普的高薪，公司創紀錄的利潤，以及其拒絕昂貴索賠的臭名昭著的曆史。
索菲亞下葬的那天晚上，巴爾加斯做出了決定。
計劃
丹尼爾·巴爾加斯不是罪犯。他曾是一名急救員，一生都在拯救他人。但現在，他覺得自己已經無所畏懼。
他的武器不是暴力，而是象征意義。油漆用來寫下他的信息。一份ProVital最惡劣案件的檔案。一個裝滿大富翁遊戲幣的背包，嘲諷公司的利潤。還有一個麵具，用來保護他的身份，代表那些無名的企業貪婪的受害者。
執行
巴爾加斯在一個星期五晚上行動了。他戴著麵具和手套，走進哥倫布圓環附近的公園，肩上背著一個黑色背包。監控錄像顯示他進入了公園，但沒有帶著包出來。紐約警察局的警員們花了整個周末搜查公園並疏浚池塘。到星期天，他們找到了那個背包，裏麵塞滿了大富翁遊戲幣——對係統貪婪的尖銳諷刺。
離開公園後，巴爾加斯推著自行車走到哥倫布大道，然後棄車改乘出租車。他付了現金，指示司機前往市區的一個汽車站，調查人員後來發現了他在犯罪發生大約一小時後進入汽車站的監控錄像。
對峙
在溫思羅普的辦公室裏，巴爾加斯拿著一份拒絕索賠的檔案與首席執行官對峙。“你認得這些名字嗎？”巴爾加斯質問道，把文件扔向那人。“你簽署了每一個拒絕。你就像親手扣動扳機一樣殺了他們。”
“我——我不是故意的——”溫思羅普結結巴巴地說，坐在椅子上顫抖著。
“省省吧。”巴爾加斯拿出大富翁遊戲幣，撒在桌子上。然後，他用有力的筆觸在牆上寫下了“否認。辯護。罷免。”
後果
到早上，新聞傳遍了各地。溫思羅普雖然沒有受傷，但受到了驚嚇，他的公開聲明經過精心編寫，表達了關切但沒有承認過錯。
義警的信息引起了共鳴。社交媒體上充斥著被拒絕索賠和未滿足需求的故事。抗議者聚集在ProVital總部外，要求改革。
偵探克魯茲篩選著證據：丟棄的咖啡瓶，一次性手機，裝滿大富翁遊戲幣的背包。“他很細致，”她對馬利克說。“而且他在傳達一個信息。這不僅僅是一次性的事情。他還會再出手。”
尾聲
丹尼爾·巴爾加斯在另一個城市的汽車站裏不被人注意地走著，麵具藏在一旁，他的任務遠未結束。他想到了索菲亞，想到了他們彼此許下的諾言。
對於每一個首席執行官，每一個破碎係統的幫凶，巴爾加斯都有一個信息：
否認。辯護。罷免。
Deny, Defend, Depose
Prologue
New York City pulsed with the rhythm of wealth and despair, its towering skyline a monument to ambition and inequity. On a cold December night, the city was gripped by an unusual terror. The CEO of ProVital Insurance, Alan Winthrop, was found tied to a chair in his penthouse office. Beside him, on the marble floor, three words were scrawled in blood-red paint: DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE.
The crime scene was as chilling as it was deliberate. Winthrop, unconscious but alive, bore no physical injuries—yet the implications were clear. Whoever did this wanted him to feel something more enduring than pain: fear.
Chapter 1: The Incident
Detective Elena Cruz stood in the penthouse office, staring at the words. The room smelled faintly of paint and leather, with the faintest hint of cigar smoke clinging to Winthrop’s desk. A portfolio lay open, detailing denied claims for treatments deemed “non-essential.”
"Message is loud and clear," Cruz muttered, glancing at her partner, Officer Malik. "This is personal. Someone wanted him to know exactly why they’re angry."
The NYPD spent the night combing the area. A discarded bottle of black coffee, still warm, was found in a nearby trash can, along with a burner phone dropped a few steps from the entrance. Both were sent to the lab for prints and DNA.
Chapter 2: The Vigilante
Three weeks earlier, Daniel Vargas sat by his wife’s hospital bed. Sophia, his high school sweetheart, was dying of leukemia. The doctors had pleaded with ProVital to approve an experimental treatment that showed promise. The answer had been cold and clinical: DENIED.
Sophia died two days later. Vargas’s grief curdled into rage. He spent his nights researching ProVital, diving into public records and news articles. He learned of Winthrop’s exorbitant salary, the company’s record-breaking profits, and its well-documented history of denying expensive claims.
The night Sophia was buried, Vargas made his decision.
Chapter 3: The Plan
Daniel Vargas wasn’t a criminal. He was a former paramedic, someone who had spent his life saving others. But now, he saw himself as someone with nothing to lose.
His arsenal wasn’t violent—it was symbolic. Paint to write his message. A dossier of ProVital’s most egregious cases. A backpack stuffed with Monopoly money, mocking the company’s profits. And a mask, to protect his identity and represent the faceless victims of corporate greed.
Chapter 4: The Execution
Vargas struck on a Friday night. Wearing a mask and gloves, he walked into the park near Columbus Circle, a black backpack slung over his shoulders. Surveillance footage showed him entering the park but never leaving with the bag. NYPD officers spent the weekend scouring the park and dredging ponds. By Sunday, they recovered the backpack, stuffed full of Monopoly money—a biting metaphor for the system’s greed.
After leaving the park, Vargas walked his bike to Columbus Avenue and ditched it in favor of a taxi. He paid cash and directed the driver to an uptown bus terminal, where investigators later found security footage of him entering about an hour after the crime.
Chapter 5: The Confrontation
In Winthrop’s office, Vargas confronted the CEO with a dossier of denied claims. “Do you recognize these names?” Vargas demanded, throwing pages at the man. “You signed off on every denial. You killed them as surely as if you pulled the trigger yourself.”
“I—I didn’t mean—” Winthrop stammered, trembling in the chair.
“Save it.” Vargas pulled out the Monopoly money and scattered it over the desk. Then, with deliberate strokes, he painted the words DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE. on the wall.
Chapter 6: The Aftermath
By morning, the news was everywhere. Winthrop was unharmed but shaken, his public statement carefully scripted to express concern without admitting fault.
The vigilante’s message struck a chord. Social media exploded with stories of denied claims and unmet needs. Protesters gathered outside ProVital’s headquarters, demanding reform.
Detective Cruz sifted through the evidence: the discarded coffee bottle, the burner phone, the backpack of Monopoly money. “He’s meticulous,” she said to Malik. “And he’s making a statement. This isn’t just a one-time thing. He’ll strike again.”
Epilogue
Daniel Vargas walked unnoticed through a bus station in another city, his mask tucked away, his mission far from over. He thought of Sophia, of the promises they’d made to each other.
For every CEO, every enabler of the broken system, Vargas had a message:
Deny. Defend. Depose.
