Filed to story: The Breaking Point (Maya & Julian) Book PDF Free
“If you’re demented, then don’t come out wandering around! Do you even have money to pay the fare? Get out!”
When Maya heard that, her heart ached, and she hurriedly pushed open the car door and jumped out. “Grandma, where are you?”
Analise had been staying in the village, taking care of Theodore. She had never been to the city before, so she was naturally clueless about navigating the roads here.
Maya’s heart clenched upon hearing her grandmother being scolded. She was concerned about leaving Analise alone at the bus station, for it wouldn’t be safe for her. Feeling anxious, she said, “Grandma, could you pass the phone to the driver? I’ll talk to him.”
“Hey!” Analise hurriedly handed the phone to the driver.
The driver scolded impatiently, “What’s wrong with you? How could you let an old lady go out alone? She can’t even tell me where she wants to go. She’s delaying my business!”
Maya apologized in a low voice, “I’m sorry for the trouble, sir. Please take my grandma to the north gate of Aqua Serenity Manor. I’ll wait for her there, and I’ll pay you triple the fare. Is that okay?”
Aqua Serenity Manor was an upscale neighborhood. Naturally, the driver agreed since she was polite and offered to triple the fare. “Alright, but if you don’t show up, I’ll just leave her by the roadside.”
After hanging up the phone, Maya glanced toward the City Hall anxiously. There are many people inside now. If I go in and collect our divorce certificate now, I might miss Grandma’s cab.
She got out of the car, intending to talk to Julian. “Can we collect the certificate another day? Something just came up.”
At her words, he took a deep drag of his cigarette and stubbed it out, giving her a cold look. “Are you joking with me?” You were the one who urgently wanted to get the divorce certificate in the morning, and now that we’re here, you’re telling me that something came up. Are you playing games with me?
Maya knew she was at fault. The last time she wanted to get the certificate, she was late and ended up not collecting it. Now, she had to stand him up because of her own affairs. If he didn’t know the reason, he might think she was playing hard to get.
Seeing his displeased expression, she couldn’t get angry either; she could only be honest. “I’m in a hurry. My grandma is coming, so I have to pick her up. I didn’t mean to stand you up. It’s my fault this time. Next time, why don’t you set the date? I promise I’ll be there even if it’s raining knives.”
His eyes darkened when he heard her say she would be there even if it was raining knives.
However, she couldn’t care less at the moment, for her mind was full of her grandmother. After speaking, she turned around and hurriedly ran to the roadside, waving her hand to hail a cab. Her panicked actions resembled those of someone escaping.
Left alone at the entrance of the City Hall, Julian wore an extremely dark and gloomy expression.
After a while, he got back into his car and drove to East Joy Talent.
In the room, Kevin held a teapot with a picture of a beautiful woman on it while taking a sip of tea. “Why do you look so dissatisfied?”
After Julian gave him a cold glare, he pulled out a chair and sat down, lighting a cigarette. “Do you think everyone is as promiscuous as you?”
Naturally, Kevin didn’t think Julian had come to him during work hours just to find a place to smoke. Suddenly, something came to his mind. He moved closer to Julian and sniffed the man. “What’s with the fiery temper? Did Maya leave you, making you angry the entire night?”
Hearing this, Julian’s fingers tightened around his cigarette. He then gave Kevin a cold glance. “Why are you so enthusiastic about her affairs?”
“Ahem!” Kevin immediately controlled his expression. “I’m just concerned about you. I mean, if you have feelings for her, just take the initiative. This stoic face of yours is only for people like us. No woman falls for that. She’s been looking at your cold expression for three years, so it’s no wonder her heart sank. It would be strange if she doesn’t want a divorce.” He then leaned closer, bringing his chair nearer to Julian. “So, have you two gotten the divorce certificate yet?”
Julian sneered. “Don’t mention it. Every time we’re about to, she finds an excuse to avoid it.”
At his words, Kevin playfully rubbed his chin. “Well, it seems like someone is giving her advice from the shadows.”
“What do you mean?” Julian raised an eyebrow.
“Think about it. In the past three years, you could count the number of times you two have met on one hand. Now that you’re getting divorced, you see each other more often, but when it comes to official business, it’s impossible to get it done. Based on my many years of experience, she’s… playing hard to get. She’s trying to attract your attention in a different way. Women can be stubborn, so just pamper her a bit. Didn’t you say that your grandparents love her? Naturally, she’s definitely the better choice as a wife.”
…
As Julian came out of Kevin’s place, he was still a bit puzzled. However, considering Maya’s recent behavior, it indeed seemed like she was trying to catch his attention. The most obvious sign was how they used to meet only once a month, but now, they would meet each other every few days. Other than trying to catch his attention, he couldn’t explain why the woman, whose world used to revolve around him, had suddenly turned into a different person.
In the past, he might have found her scheming, but this time, he didn’t feel as uncomfortable. In fact, he was even looking forward to it. Now that she’s playing hard to get, I wonder when she’ll finally make her move!
On the other hand, as soon as Maya got out of the cab, she suddenly sneezed twice in a row. An old saying from her hometown immediately came to mind as she thought, One sneeze, someone misses you; two sneezes, someone curses you; three sneezes, cold’s debut. Two sneezes? Which wicked person is cursing me behind my back?
Maya had just gotten out of the car when Analise arrived.
Seeing Analise getting safely out of the cab, Maya finally calmed her worried heart.
“Grandma, you could’ve just given me a call if you wanted to visit, and I would’ve gone to pick you up. If not, I’ll be very worried to see you traveling so far all alone.” She went forward and paid the fare, then turned around and supported Analise. With one hand, she took the old woman’s bag and said, “Take your time. Let’s go home first.”
Analise, however, stood there and refused to budge. She shook her head and said, “It’s okay, I won’t be intruding. I’m filthy right now. I’m here to give Julian the locust flowers.”
With that, Analise shakily opened her bag and showed its contents to Maya.
Packs of dried locust flowers were wrapped neatly in plastic bags.
“When you brought Julian home a few years ago, he said that he liked the locust flower tea I made for him. The locust flowers were in bloom sometime ago, so I asked Tom from next door to gather them. I then laid them out to dry before delivering them here.” At the mention of her grandson-in-law, Analise looked very content, and she had a warm smile on her face.
“Don’t worry, it’s all clean. I rinsed them multiple times, and I covered them with gauze when I dried them in the sun.”
Maya never thought Analise would travel such a long distance and tire herself out just to send dried locust flowers to Julian. The sour feeling in her heart almost manifested itself.
Back then, she didn’t want to bring Julian home. Instead, Colby felt that since Analise was getting old, she probably couldn’t travel that far to the city to attend the couple’s wedding. However, the couple couldn’t skip out on visiting Analise, so that was why Julian visited Maya’s old home.
Back in the day, Maya felt nervous when she saw him standing in the farmyard, looking out of place. He frowned at everything he saw.
He accepted the tea Analise had brought over to him, saying that he liked it because it was simply the way he was brought up in the Graham Family. It had nothing to do with his actual preferences.
However, Analise took it to heart and remembered it all this while.
Unbeknownst to her, Maya would be getting divorced from Julian soon.
Maya turned around and tried blinking away the tears in her eyes. Then, she held Analise’s arms and said playfully, “Look how biased you are! Outsiders would think that he’s your biological grandson. You came here to give him this, but what about me?”
Analise smiled as she patted Maya. “Silly child, what are you saying? I care about him because I care about you.”
She was nice to Julian only because she wished that Julian would be nicer to Maya on her account.
Maya pouted. “If that’s the case, why won’t you agree to stay here for a few days? Who are you trying to fool? You won’t even know if Julian’s been bullying me.”
Analise was so mad that she moved to hit Maya, then reprimanded, “Don’t jinx it! Julian is a good boy, so why would he bully you?!”
She said that, but she still followed Maya into the community. She asked in uncertainty, “Julian hasn’t been bullying you, has he?”
Maya bit her lip. In the end, she didn’t tell Analise about her eventual divorce from Julian. She just smiled and said, “Don’t worry. With you around, he wouldn’t dare to.”
On more than one occasion, Maya wanted Analise to live with her, but her relationship with Julian wasn’t exactly great. Fearing that Analise might catch on, she couldn’t bring herself to mention it.
Moreover, Analise always said that she wasn’t used to living in the city.
Now that Maya was about to get divorced from Julian, Analise had come to visit instead.
If Analise knew about Maya’s life with the Graham Family, her heart would probably ache.
Fortunately, when Luna bought a house for Maya, she feared for the latter’s safety, so she also bought some men’s clothes, slippers, and the like.
Every time she came over, she would wear the men’s slippers, so the slippers looked worn in their position at the entrance of the house.
When Analise saw the slippers, she assumed they belonged to Julian, so she didn’t suspect anything. She said happily, “You should get to work. I’ll be fine here all by myself. You shouldn’t stay behind just to accompany me.”
