New York in November 2008, like a wounded behemoth.
Newspaper stalls on the streets were piled with thick stacks of unsold newspapers, and the front page headlines were still "Wall Street Bloodbath" and "Lehman collapse caused global panic".
Adam White pushed open the door of the St. Louis Psychological Clinic and stepped into this strange and familiar world.
Six months of forced treatment pulled him back from the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Doctors said he had recovered and could reintegrate into society.
But what is society?
The financial battlefield that made his father jump from the forty-third floor?
On Fifth Avenue, the once bustling crowd has become sparse. Some of those financial elites in suits and leather shoes have gone bankrupt and jumped off buildings, and some are hiding in villas in the suburbs to lick their wounds.
Adam walks past a closed investment banking building.
The glass door is covered with a white seal.
He took out his phone and dialed a number that had been stored for six months.
"Jessica?"
"Adam?" The woman's voice was clearly surprised, "You... Came out? "
"We need to meet and talk."
There was a brief silence on the phone.
"Okay. Old place, café next to Central Park, an hour later. "
The moment he hung up the phone, Adam's fingers trembled slightly.
It's not nervousness, it's anticipation.
For six months, Jessica was his only spiritual pillar during the treatment process. The blonde fiancée, the woman who promised to "never leave" when he was most desperate.
The café is filled with the aroma of a strong latte.
Jessica was already sitting in the corner, wearing a camel cashmere coat, and her makeup was so exquisite that there was no blemish.
The moment she saw Adam, a hint of mixed emotions flashed in her eyes.
"You're thin." She said.
Adam sat down across from her.
"The food during the treatment was not very good."
Jessica's fingers tapped on the tabletop, and the two-carat diamond ring shimmered cold in the light.
"Adam, we need to talk."
"About the wedding?"
"Yes."
She shook her head.
Jessica took off the engagement ring from her ring finger and gently placed it in the center of the table.
"Let's finish."
The background music in the café continues, and it is a soft jazz music.
But Adam's world fell into absolute silence at this moment.
His voice was calm, so calm that even he surprised himself.
"Because we no longer belong to the same world." Jessica's voice trembled with a hint of tremor, "Your father is dead, your company is bankrupt, and you yourself are in a mental hospital." And I... What I need is a man with a future. "
Adam smiled bitterly.
"Is it because of Marcus Thorne? Vice President of Goldman Sachs. "
Jessica's face turned white instantly.
"How do you know?"
"It's a very rational choice." Adam picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, "Thorne has an annual salary of three million dollars, an eight-million-dollar apartment on the Upper East Side, drives an Aston Martin, and most importantly - he's not crazy." "
"Adam..."
"You don't need to explain anything." Adam put down his coffee cup, "Love does seem fragile in the face of money." "
Tears welled up in Jessica's eyes.
"It makes me sad that you say that."
"Sad?" Adam smiled, it was a chilling smile, "Jessica, if you are really sad, you will not have been in and out of various high-end places with Thorne during the six months I was hospitalized, and appeared on the social pages of gossip magazines." "
The woman's tears slipped down her cheeks.
"I just... I just don't want to spend the rest of my life with a loser. "
This sentence was like a sharp knife, inserting it into Adam's heart with precision.
Underdog.
In this Wall Street, where heroes are judged by success or failure, there is no more cruel label.
Jessica seemed to realize the sharpness of her words, and she reached out to touch the back of Adam's hand.
"As a final farewell, I can stay with you for one night. Just as... Remembrance of the past. "
The mercy and alms in this sentence completely shattered the last warmth in Adam's heart.
He stood up.
"No need."
"Adam..."
"Thank you, Jessica. Thank you for using the most direct way to make me recognize the truth of this world. "
As he walked out of the café, Adam didn't look back.
At the corner, a black Bentley sedan slowly stopped.
A tall man got out of the car, wearing a custom Tom Ford suit and his hair combed meticulously. Marcus Thorne.
He walks towards the café, and Adam sees Jessica greet him, like a bird looking for shelter, into his arms.
Thorne's hand wrapped around her waist and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.
That picture is a perfect interpretation of money and power.
"Capital is a beast..."
Adam muttered to himself, his father's words echoing in his ears, "Once you ride on its back, you can never come down again." "
His eyes flashed with a strange light.
"In that case, I can only be the more ferocious one."
As night fell, Adam came to the site of his father's company.
White Asset Management, which once occupied the entire thirty-second floor of the building, now has a court seal at the door, and the empty office area can be seen through the glass door.
"Why?"
"I've been waiting for you for a long time."
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Adam turned around and saw Ben Carter. The man in his early thirties was a close friend he had known since his days at Harvard Business School and was the only one who cared about him after his accident.
"How do you know I'm going to come here?"
"Because I know you." Ben handed him a thick folder, "This is the company's bankruptcy information I have compiled, I think you should take a look." "
Adam took the folder and turned to the first page.
Above are the financial statements of the last month before the company's bankruptcy.
"Ben, why are you doing this?"
"Because I feel like something is wrong." Ben lowered his voice, "Your father's company originally had a glimmer of life, and there was a real estate fund project worth $20 million, which was enough to get the company through the difficulties." "
"Then why is it still bankrupt?"
"Because this project was snatched away." Ben pointed to a line in the document, "Victoria Vance, your father's partner, took refuge with outsiders at the most critical time and took away the company's core assets." "
Adam's fingers gripped the edge of the folder tightly.
Victoria Vance, the woman who once fought side by side with her father for fifteen years, the vice president of the company, and her father's most trusted partner.
"Adam, something is wrong," Ben leaned closer, his voice so low that only two people could hear him, "I suspect that your father's death has something to do with Victoria and a capital vulture named Richard Stirling!" "
The name was like a bolt of lightning, splitting the fog in Adam's mind.
Richard Sterling, Wall Street's cold-blooded M&A expert, specializes in acquiring troubled financial companies and then splitting them off for a profit.
"Do you have any evidence?"
"There is no conclusive evidence yet, but I found some clues." Ben took out a USB flash drive from his underwear pocket, "There are some audio files in it, which I recovered from your father's old computer." "
Adam took the USB flash drive, and his fingers felt the coldness of the metal.
"Ben, thank you."
"Don't thank me, I just don't think Uncle White should have died so unclearly." Ben patted him on the shoulder, "Brother, if you decide to investigate, I will support you." "
Looking at Ben's leaving, Adam stood alone in front of the empty building.
The truth of his father's death was like a fire, burning all the depression and confusion in his heart.
Only icy hatred and clear goals remain.
The prelude to revenge began.