On the evening of October 15, at around 6:00 PM, Simon departed from China to return to the United States. After approximately 12 hours of flight, he arrived in Los Angeles. Thanks to the time difference, it was still only 3:00 PM on October 15 on the West Coast of the U.S.
On the East Coast, however, the North American stock market had already closed.
Although the Dow Jones Index was affected by the turbulence, with intraday losses exceeding 4.3%, it ultimately closed with a modest 1.6% decline. This performance gave many people the false impression that the raging Asian financial storm had merely turned into a gentle breeze upon reaching North America. The sharp intraday drop was dismissed as an overreaction fueled by market panic.
Simon wasn't nearly as optimistic.
Of course, he couldn't openly act like a prophet and tell people what was about to happen.
Fortunately, the news from Cersei Capital was encouraging. Due to significant capital still betting on the Dow Jones Index rising, today's steep intraday drop not only failed to deter bullish investors but also prompted more capital to double down on long positions. As a result, the Cersei Fund Management Company, which had steadfastly held its short positions, managed to add $700 million in new short positions on the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 Index, and other related stocks in a single day. This brought the total value of Cersei's short positions against the U.S. stock market to over $9 billion.
If history hadn't been altered, by late October, the scale of these positions would undoubtedly have exceeded $10 billion—or even more.
Unfortunately, Simon's influence as a metaphorical butterfly had profoundly reshaped the course of events.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, Simon's first action was to take a staged "work photo" at the Daniele Studios in Malibu. This photo was promptly posted on Daniele Group's official Facebook account, signaling to the public that he had left Asia and that everyone could calm down.
Within just an hour, the photo had been circulated worldwide—particularly in Asia, where it was already the morning of October 16. Newspapers and TV stations across Asian countries and regions received urgent directives to ensure the photo was featured prominently, with accompanying commentary improvising the narrative.
The message was clear: The disaster star has left.
However, this was ultimately futile.
Anyone with even a shred of rationality could see that yesterday's market crash had officially triggered the long-brewing second wave of the financial storm. With panic already taking hold, the continued downturn of financial markets was inevitable, regardless of whether the "Westeros Effect" was present to act as a catalyst.
Thus, when the markets reopened on October 16, starting with Japan, the downward spiral in stocks, bonds, and currencies resumed.
The only silver lining was that today's declines weren't as severe as yesterday's. Perhaps Simon's departure had offered a slight reprieve.
But it wasn't enough.
The focal point of everyone's attention, the Hong Kong stock market, closed on October 16 with another sharp drop of 4.9%. The Hang Seng Index fell further from yesterday's close of 12,526 points to 11,912 points, edging closer to the 10,000-point threshold that Soros had privately mentioned to Simon.
However, the most significant development on October 16 occurred in South Korea.
At 2:00 PM Seoul time, an hour before the market closed, faced with yet another 5% drop in the domestic stock market and short-term foreign debt nearing $90 billion while the Bank of Korea's available cash reserves dwindled to less than $8 billion, the South Korean government made a sudden announcement: they would abandon their defense of the won's exchange rate.
In just one hour, the won depreciated by the maximum 12% allowed under South Korean law. The exchange rate plummeted from 901 won per dollar to 1,009 won per dollar. Compared to the June exchange rate of approximately 800 won per dollar, the won had depreciated by a staggering 25% in just over three months.
And this was only the beginning.
The tight economic and strategic ties between South Korea, Japan, and the United States were well-known. The collapse of the won's exchange rate even caused the U.S. government to become uneasy.
This was no longer just an economic issue.
If South Korea's economy completely collapsed and the nation plunged into decline, the strategic importance of this U.S. ally in Northeast Asia would be severely compromised.
As a result, at 1:00 AM on the East Coast of the U.S., many key figures in New York and Washington were roused from their sleep and worked through the night. Simon later learned that President Clinton had even held a late-night call with South Korean President Kim Young-sam to discuss potential bailout measures.
A few hours later, when North American markets opened, the Dow Jones Index mirrored the previous day's collapse in Asia.
Thirty-seven minutes after the opening bell, the Dow dropped 7%, triggering the second circuit breaker since the system was established after the 1987 crash. The first circuit breaker had been triggered earlier that year, on March 24, when the Nasdaq collapsed.
After a 15-minute trading halt, the Dow's downward momentum finally slowed, narrowly avoiding the second-level circuit breaker threshold of a 13% decline.
For the rest of October 16, the Dow's intraday losses peaked at 9.3% before closing down 7.1%. The index fell from its opening level of 7,319 points to 6,799 points, returning to the 6,000-point range.
The S&P 500 wasn't spared either, closing down 6.7%. It dropped from 941 points at the opening to 877 points, narrowly avoiding its own circuit breaker threshold.
The Nasdaq fell 5.3%, from 3,839 points to 3,635 points. Its relatively smaller decline was due to the fact that the Nasdaq had already lost nearly half its value over the past six months.
Separately, just from its short positions in North America, Cersei Fund Management Company made over $600 million in paper profits on October 16 alone. Knowing that the U.S. government would likely intervene to stabilize the market, Simon instructed the New York team to begin liquidating positions immediately to lock in profits.
At the same time, Simon had to juggle tasks he had planned to complete in Beijing and now had to handle in Los Angeles. Among these was a crucial new global public relations strategy—targeting the narrative surrounding the "Westeros Effect."
While some lighthearted teasing was tolerable, Simon would not allow certain parties to deliberately pin the blame for the financial turmoil in Asia or North America on him. The catastrophic financial storm in Asia was bound to exacerbate societal tensions. If Simon didn't act, he would become an easy scapegoat for those seeking to deflect blame.
Los Angeles
At Daniele Studios in Malibu, at 5:00 PM, Simon had just finished meeting with the last of the "chess pieces" targeting Korea. A female assistant brought in George Norman, who handled the Westeros family's private legal affairs. She placed a file from Washington on Simon's desk and quietly exited.
The file contained a summary of the results from that day's discussions between Washington and Seoul.
The South Korean government had formally decided to request assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although the IMF claimed to be neutral, it was effectively controlled by the United States and operated according to Washington's directives.
As Simon skimmed through the document, he exchanged a few casual words with Norman before asking with a smile, "How's that matter going?"
George Norman also smiled. "I just met with him again this morning. I have to say, greed knows no bounds. Not only has he added a series of new conditions over the past few days, but today he also tried to raise the amount to $250 million. Two hundred and fifty million! I couldn't help but wonder—does he even understand what that means?"
"Yes," Simon replied casually, "In Mexico, $100 can hire a hitman. For $250 million, you could fund an army."
Norman's expression froze momentarily before he quickly pretended he hadn't heard anything.
Simon glanced up at him and chuckled. "You don't seriously think I'd do that, do you?"
Norman maintained a professional demeanor. "I only handle what I'm supposed to."
Shrugging, Simon turned a page in the document and said, "Actually, he's made one critical mistake. Do you know what it is?"
"Hm?"
"He's trying to emulate the Jackson case. But he forgot to ask himself one question: Is Simon Westeros a nice guy?"
Norman wasn't sure how to respond.
Simon didn't wait for an answer. "Michael was a nice guy—a very nice guy. Everyone who met him knew that. That's why, when faced with malicious people, he was completely unprepared. The result? His reputation was utterly destroyed. Even now, despite the father and son eventually admitting they lied for money, the public still doesn't believe him. He'll carry the stigma of being a pedophile—a label so repugnant most people won't even say it out loud—for the rest of his life, even in death. Poor guy."
Simon glanced at Norman again. "George, do you believe Michael was innocent?"
Norman hesitated before replying vaguely, "Michael should have been more cautious. He was too close to children. But I understand—he idolized Peter Pan and wanted to stay a child forever, not grow up."
Simon smirked. "So, you don't really believe he was innocent, do you?"
Norman's expression turned slightly awkward. "Simon, I don't know enough about the case."
"I believe Michael was innocent," Simon said. "Because I'm a bad guy, and I'm good at understanding how bad people think. After that incident, the Chandler family walked away with over $20 million. That's a lot of money. Think about it—wouldn't other kids and their parents who interacted with Michael have been tempted to do the same?"
Norman nodded slowly, starting to understand.
"So, from my bad-guy perspective, those tempted families should have banded together and launched a class-action lawsuit against Michael. Even if they didn't get $20 million, they could've walked away with a few hundred thousand or even a few million dollars each, right?"
Norman nodded again, now fully grasping the logic.
Simon continued, his eyes still on the document. "But that didn't happen. Instead, many kids and their families came forward to defend Michael, to prove his innocence. Why do you think that is?"
Norman answered without hesitation this time. "Because they were good people."
"Exactly. Good people always get the short end of the stick in this world. And those kids and parents, to uphold their integrity, resisted the temptation of a large sum of money." Simon's tone carried a tinge of regret, which soon turned cold. "Unfortunately, I'm not a good person."
Norman chose not to comment on this and instead asked, "Simon, how much longer will this take on my end?"
"Not long now," Simon replied, his tone neutral again. "Your job is to handle the rest of the Spears family and make sure they don't follow his lead. Being a bad guy isn't as easy as it looks."
Norman nodded. "Understood."
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