Before Ethan could finish speaking, his face froze as he spotted Dominic. The atmosphere turned awkward, and he was completely lost for words.
Bella's gaze landed on the container in Ethan's hand, and her mind went blank. These two had bumped into each other at the worst possible moment. To ease Ethan's embarrassment, she quickly jumped in. "You brought me something to eat? I thought you'd be asleep by now."
Ethan awkwardly seized the opportunity to explain, opening the container to reveal a batch of steaming lasagna. "My mom made it. I figured you might be hungry since you were working late, so I brought you some. I should've called to check if you had already had dinner. I didn't know someone else had already taken care of that."
Doing her best to ignore Dominic's darkening expression, Bella forced a smile and tried to act naturally. "No worries, I can finish it. Thanks a lot! You should head back and get some rest. I'll wash the container and return it to you later."
Ethan nodded and waved at her. "Alright, I'll get going, then. Bye!"
The moment Ethan left, Dominic's temper flared. He kicked the door of the duty room and strode over, grabbing Bella's hand before she could take another bite. "How many knights in shining armor are lining up for you?"
Cold sweat broke out of Bella's forehead, though she couldn't quite understand why she felt guilty.
"I didn't know he would show up! He's just a colleague, and bringing lasagna for me isn't a crime, right? He knew I was alone and sent me food. But here you are, showing up in the middle of the night to yell at me."
Dominic was momentarily speechless, his frustration evident. After a pause, he finally said, "Who's yelling at you? Someone like you wouldn't survive one punch from me. Now, hurry up and eat! And stay away from the lasagna."
Bella scoffed internally as she pushed the container of lasagna toward him. "Fine, since I can't eat it, you try it instead. It's homemade. We can't let it go to waste, right?"
Dominic turned his head away. "No thanks. I don't eat that kind of stuff."
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