Chapter 71
“Then go ahead and register it now,” Andrew said.
“Oh, okay.” Alyssa nodded, hung her bag in the entryway cabinet and started fiddling with the fingerprint scanner by the
door.
Andrew walked over to the dining table, picked up his phone, and heard Leanna eagerly ask, “Who is it?”
“It’s Alyssa,” Andrew replied.
“Hurry, let me see her, Leanna urged impatiently.
Andrew walked over to where Alyssa was still struggling with the fingerprint lock. She wasn’t familiar with it and had been messing with it for a while without any luck.
Getting a bit impatient himself, Andrew handed her the phone. Let me do it. Your hold the phone.”
Without thinking, Alyssa took the phone, only to hear an excited voice from the other end, “Alyssa, quick, look at me!”
It was only then that Alyssa realized he was on a video call. She quickly smiled at the camera and saw Leanna with silver hair but a lively spirit on the screen. Her face was lined with age, but it was a natural, graceful aging that carried an air of elegance.
Right now, that face was beaming with warmth and kindness.
Seeing her, Alyssa was reminded of the kind old lady from Sadie’s house who had always treated her well. Almost instinctively, she called out, “Mrs. Coleman.”
Seeing Alyssa, Leanna was over the moon, waving her hands in delight. She turned to Celine and exclaimed, “Celine, see how pretty she is?”
Celine also felt excited to see Alyssa on the phone, thought she had spoken with Alyssa just the night before.
Celine quickly said, “Mom, you’re so lucky having such a pretty granddaughter–in–law.”
Leanna looked quite pleased with herself.
Meanwhile, Andrew was focused on the lock. He reached out, grabbed Alyssa’s hand, and gently guided her index finger to press on the scanner repeatedly.
Alyssa hadn’t expected him to just grab her hand like that, and she tensed up slightly. She noticed that his hand was large and warm–dry, but warm. His fingers were rough, calloused in a way that actually made her own hand ache a bit.
She glanced at him and couldn’t help but think, ‘With his wealth being on par with Sean’s, how could his hands be so rough? Even though Sean doesn’t come from money, his hands are never this coarse. Maybe Andrew’s upbringing is even harsher?‘
It crossed her mind that getting to where he was today must’ve taken a lot of grit. She found herself developing a bit of respect for him.
But she had it wrong. Andrew’s rough hands had nothing to do with hardship–in fact, it was the opposite.
The Coleman family was so wealthy that kidnapping was a real concern. Because of that, every family member, male or female, was trained in self–defense from a young age. Andrew took a special interest in sports like taekwondo, fencing, and other combat–related activities, training more intensely than the others, which left his hands rougher.
But that was something Alyssa didn’t know.
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10:38 Sat, Dec 14 GE
Chapter 71
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On the video call, boilteanna and Celine noticed them holding hands and excitedly started taking screenshots.
After capturing the moment, Leanna realized it was inconvenient to always connect with Alyssa through Andrew. So she asked, “Alyssie, could you add me on WhatsApp?”
As she heard this nickname, Alyssa’s head snapped up to look at Leanna on the screen.
Aside from Mateo, this was the first person to ever call her “Alyssic.”
Her eyes stung with sudden emotion, and for a moment, she couldn’t find the words to respond.
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