"I am a journalist." She pulled a folder from her bag and slid it across the desk. "I'm just... also a few other things."
Ethan opened the folder. Inside were bank statements, wire transfer records, photographs of documents he didn't recognize—until he saw the Sterling Foundation logo at the top of one page.
"What am I looking at?"
"The real reason Chad Miller was arrested." Isabella leaned forward. "The wire fraud charges? Those were just the tip of the iceberg. The Sterling Foundation has been laundering money for a decade—not just for themselves, but for some very dangerous people."
Ethan's stomach tightened. "What kind of dangerous people?"
"The kind who don't appreciate loose ends."
He looked at the documents again. There were names he recognized—prominent businessmen, politicians, even a foreign diplomat. All of them connected to the foundation. All of them potentially compromised.
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Because you're a loose end, Mr. Vance." Isabella's voice was quiet. "You were engaged to Brooke Sterling. You have firsthand knowledge of how the foundation operates. And after the gala, you became very... visible."
"You're saying I'm in danger."
"I'm saying someone tried to break into your apartment last night."
Ethan went very still. "What?"
"I have a friend at the police department. She flagged the report—someone jimmied the lock on your back door around 3 AM. Nothing was taken. But the responding officer noted that the security cameras had been disabled."
Ethan thought about his apartment. The quiet penthouse. The back door he never used.
"I didn't notice anything."
"Because nothing was taken. Because they weren't there to steal." Isabella met his eyes. "They were there to send a message. Or to test your security. Or both."
The room felt suddenly colder.
"What do you want from me?" Ethan asked.
"I want to help you." Isabella pulled another folder from her bag—this one thicker than the first. "I've been investigating the Sterling Foundation for two years. I have sources inside their operation. I have evidence that could put half of the East Coast's elite behind bars."
"Why haven't you published it?"