Original subtitles

♪ Don't hold me down. ♪

[dramatic music playing]

- The bruised body of a beautiful, young fashion designer found dead.

NARRATOR: Sylvie Cachay wasn't afraid to go after what she wanted in life,

so when her relationship turned toxic, she tried to fix it.

- Sylvie challenged Nicholas in a way that he'd never been challenged before.

- He was this bad-boy partier.

CARROLL: He felt like he was entitled to have Sylvie

because he'd been entitled to everything his entire life.

NARRATOR: A trust-fund kid whose family's legacy was one f abuse,

Nicholas Brooks had a habit of taking whatever he wanted,

including the life of Sylvie Cachay.

REPORTER: Nicholas, did you strangle your girlfriend?

NARRATOR: Sylvie Cachay was born in 1977

to Peruvian parents in McLean, Virginia,

a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C.

BUSH: Being from an immigrant home,

the idea of ambition, drive, success and passion

was instilled in her at a young age.

- She immediately embarked on her dream of being a fashion designer.

PHILIPS: The summer after she graduates from high school, Sylvie Cachay

moves to New York and attends an intensive study program

at Parsons The New School for Design.

AZARI: After graduating,

Sylvie landed an internship at Marc Jacobs.

PHILIPS: Then she gets hired at Tommy Hilfiger as the assistant designer

to junior sportswear.

AZARI: At the age of 25, Sylvie lands a job

leading a design team

at Victoria's Secret.

- Sylvie's talent was remarkable.

She had such an eye for prints.

She just was a natural artist.

NARRATOR: Though Sylvie's talent jumpstarted her career with major brands,

she had even bigger plans.

♪ Just ride the wave... ♪

- Sylvie's real dream was to have her own fashion line,

her own line of swimwear.

- And by the age of 29,

she connects with a very wealthy family

who agrees to invest $2 million

in Sylvie's own brand of swimsuits called Syla.

HADWEN: Syla's line was contemporary, very luxurious,

beautiful, really unique designs.

NARRATOR: Sylvie worked tirelessly to get Syla

off the ground, and within two short years,

she got an opportunity most designers only dream about.

♪ Just ride the wave. ♪

PHILIPS: On July 18, 2008,

Sylvie launches her swimwear line

at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

PHILIPS: Barneys New York, Lane Crawford, Anthropologie--

they all take orders for Sylvie's new swimsuit line.

- She even gets the attention of Anna Wintour.

CARROLL: She was really successful really quickly.

NARRATOR: But just after Sylvie released Syla,

the entire industry was turned upside down.

- More global worries over the possible U.S. recession.

- This morning, at the opening bell,

the Dow took a steep dive.

- The recession hits.

[dramatic music playing]

- Consumer spending habits completely plummeted.

CARROLL: Sylvie's investors have to pull their investment n her swimsuit line,

and she has to end the business.

HADWEN: Syla was her baby. She never forgot about it.

She was still planning

and designing and buying prints.

CARROLL: She joins the Soho House,

which is an exclusive club in Manhattan.

She's hoping that, by going there,

she'll be able to network.

She might be able to get her line up and running again.

NARRATOR: It was at the Soho House, in June 2010,

that Sylvie's friends introduced her to Nicholas Brooks.

PHILIPS: Nick Brooks is

ten years younger than Sylvie.

HADWEN: When Sylvie met Nick, she told me,

"Oh, I met this kid. He's really young."

He came into the office.

He would bring her coffee, things like that-- sweet things.

- You can't tell Sylvie's story without also telling

the story of Nicholas Brooks and Joseph Brooks.

NARRATOR: Nicholas was the son of Joseph Brooks,

an Oscar-winning songwriter and composer,

and his wife, Susan Paul,

a British actress who graced the cover of Playboy.

CARROLL: When Nicholas is very young,

his father takes him away from his mother,

basically poisons Nicholas's mind against her.

He regularly makes use

of escort services and starts providing Nicholas with escorts

when he's about 16 years old.

NARRATOR: But Joseph's exploits went beyond hiring escorts.

Just weeks after they met,

Nicholas revealed to Sylvie that his father

had been charged with 91 counts of sexual misconduct.

CARROLL: Joseph would have these women meet him at hs apartment, get them drunk,

get them incapacitated in some way,

and he'd rape them.

NARRATOR: Sylvie tried to support her boyfriend

through his father's trial, but it revealed

a darker side of Nick, one she couldn't help.

- If Sylvie had not met Nicholas Brooks, she would be alive today.

[dramatic music playing]