Brodie Leonadis Duke was born in 1846, the second son of Washington Duke and brother of James Buchanan Duke, the millionaire tobacco tycoon. At an early age, Brodie is traumatized by loss that molds him into the man he will become. In 1861, the Civil War begins and Washington and Brodie are forced to serve. Given Brodie's slim stature, he is assigned to a prison camp in Salisbury, North Carolina. The horror that occurs on his watch brings Brodie to the brink of insanity.
Unable to return home, Brodie spends time farming tobacco while his father and siblings begin a small tobacco company. Brodie realizes that Durham has become a hub for tobacco manufacturing entrepreneurs and decides to open his own company.
Several years later, Washington and Brodie's siblings join him in Durham and combine forces. Early on, it becomes clear that Brodie's past and his brother Buck's determination to run the company causes tension between the two brothers that will never be resolved. Pushed out of the way, Brodie resorts to purchasing land and developing Durham. But even with a successful business and more money than he could ever need, this young man is unable to overcome the guilt from his past and finds himself drinking excessively.
Brodie finds love only for it to be taken away. Unstable and rash, Brodie makes decisions that lead him down a path of deceit and betrayal. And when it appears that Brodie will
