A story with the help of ChatGPT and major news outlets.
序章
纽约市脉动着财富与绝望的节奏，其高耸的天际线是野心与不平等的纪念碑。在一个寒冷的十二月夜晚，城市被一种不寻常的恐惧所笼罩。ProVital保险公司的首席执行官艾伦·温思罗普被发现绑在他顶层办公室的椅子上。在他旁边的大理石地板上，用血红色的油漆写着三个字：否认，辩护，罢免。
犯罪现场既令人毛骨悚然又显得刻意。温思罗普虽然昏迷但还活着，身上没有任何外伤——但其含义显而易见。无论是谁做的，都想让他感受到比痛苦更持久的东西：恐惧。
事件
侦探埃琳娜·克鲁兹站在顶层办公室里，盯着那些字。房间里隐约有油漆和皮革的气味，温思罗普的桌子上还残留着淡淡的雪茄烟味。一个文件夹摊开着，里面详细记录了被认为“非必要”治疗的拒绝索赔。
“信息很明确，”克鲁兹喃喃道，瞥了一眼她的搭档马利克警官。“这是个人恩怨。有人想让他知道他们为什么生气。”
纽约警察局整夜在该地区搜查。在附近的垃圾桶里发现了一瓶仍然温热的黑咖啡，以及在入口附近几步远处丢弃的一个一次性手机。两者都被送往实验室进行指纹和DNA检测。
义警
三周前，丹尼尔·巴尔加斯坐在他妻子的病床旁。索菲亚，他的高中恋人，正因白血病而垂死。医生们曾恳求ProVital批准一种有希望的实验性治疗。答案却是冷冰冰的：拒绝。
索菲亚两天后去世。巴尔加斯的悲痛变成了愤怒。他夜以继日地研究ProVital，深入公共记录和新闻文章。他了解到温思罗普的高薪，公司创纪录的利润，以及其拒绝昂贵索赔的臭名昭著的历史。
索菲亚下葬的那天晚上，巴尔加斯做出了决定。
计划
丹尼尔·巴尔加斯不是罪犯。他曾是一名急救员，一生都在拯救他人。但现在，他觉得自己已经无所畏惧。
他的武器不是暴力，而是象征意义。油漆用来写下他的信息。一份ProVital最恶劣案件的档案。一个装满大富翁游戏币的背包，嘲讽公司的利润。还有一个面具，用来保护他的身份，代表那些无名的企业贪婪的受害者。
执行
巴尔加斯在一个星期五晚上行动了。他戴着面具和手套，走进哥伦布圆环附近的公园，肩上背着一个黑色背包。监控录像显示他进入了公园，但没有带着包出来。纽约警察局的警员们花了整个周末搜查公园并疏浚池塘。到星期天，他们找到了那个背包，里面塞满了大富翁游戏币——对系统贪婪的尖锐讽刺。
离开公园后，巴尔加斯推着自行车走到哥伦布大道，然后弃车改乘出租车。他付了现金，指示司机前往市区的一个汽车站，调查人员后来发现了他在犯罪发生大约一小时后进入汽车站的监控录像。
对峙
在温思罗普的办公室里，巴尔加斯拿着一份拒绝索赔的档案与首席执行官对峙。“你认得这些名字吗？”巴尔加斯质问道，把文件扔向那人。“你签署了每一个拒绝。你就像亲手扣动扳机一样杀了他们。”
“我——我不是故意的——”温思罗普结结巴巴地说，坐在椅子上颤抖着。
“省省吧。”巴尔加斯拿出大富翁游戏币，撒在桌子上。然后，他用有力的笔触在墙上写下了“否认。辩护。罢免。”
后果
到早上，新闻传遍了各地。温思罗普虽然没有受伤，但受到了惊吓，他的公开声明经过精心编写，表达了关切但没有承认过错。
义警的信息引起了共鸣。社交媒体上充斥着被拒绝索赔和未满足需求的故事。抗议者聚集在ProVital总部外，要求改革。
侦探克鲁兹筛选着证据：丢弃的咖啡瓶，一次性手机，装满大富翁游戏币的背包。“他很细致，”她对马利克说。“而且他在传达一个信息。这不仅仅是一次性的事情。他还会再出手。”
尾声
丹尼尔·巴尔加斯在另一个城市的汽车站里不被人注意地走着，面具藏在一旁，他的任务远未结束。他想到了索菲亚，想到了他们彼此许下的诺言。
对于每一个首席执行官，每一个破碎系统的帮凶，巴尔加斯都有一个信息：
否认。辩护。罢免。
Deny, Defend, Depose
PrologueNew 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.
