Clumsy at Love

Chapter 38: Heartbreaks and Moving On

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma

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Akane returned to Tokyo brokenhearted but was motivated to pursue what she wanted to do in her life. Thanks to Ranma. He accomplished his goal but would never know about it.

Within the first week of her return, Ranma consistently reached out to her, but she didn't respond and even refused to read his messages, fearing that she might falter.

The following week, she decided to vacate the penthouse and stay with her family. She even volunteered to work at their company while planning her next steps in life.

She knew her family had a hunch that something was wrong with her relationship with Ranma, but they gave her the space and support she needed.

For the past two weeks, she kept herself busy by automating their company's systems and applying what she had learned from Saotome's Group of Companies to improve their factory's productivity.

"I should be doing this!" she exclaimed after completing another revised manual of procedures.

"What? Creating MOP? Fixing machineries? Start a factory?" asked Kasumi.

Akane chuckled and shook her head. "No, help other companies improve their business strategies and systems."

"I'm sure you would succeed doing that, but I hope you would stay here instead," Kasumi replied.

"Don't worry, it's not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of things to consider and prepare for. But I think the hardest part is finding business partners and investors who'll believe in me."

"Whatever type of business that is, I'll definitely want to invest. I've knocked, but you guys didn't hear," Ryoga explained, seeing their surprised faces.

"Ryoga!" Akane exclaimed. "Come on in. I'll be off in ten minutes." She told him.

"No worries. Take your time. I just wanna say hi to your sister. Hi Kasumi. "

"Hello, Ryoga." Kasumi greeted back. "Akane, you can go ahead. I'll take it from here."

"Are you sure?"

"We're almost done here anyway."

"Thanks, Kasumi. I'll just get my bag," she told Ryoga while walking back to her desk when they heard another knock on the door.

"Ms. Akane, someone from Saotome Group of Companies is here to pick you up. He said the Saotome's wanted to talk to you."

Akane froze in place.

"Are you alright?" Asked Ryoga after a few moments and she still hasn't moved or uttered a word.

"Akane?" Kasumi called out, trying to get her attention back. "Do you want me to talk to them instead?"

She shook her head. She knew this would happen, sooner or later. There's no use trying to delay what's inevitable. It's better to get over this now. "No, I'll meet them. I should have done that first when I returned a month ago."

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She still wasn't sure what to tell them or how to tell them what she should tell them. Should she confess that their marriage is a fraud? Or just tell them that their love wasn't enough to make their marriage work? Should she keep lying to them just like that when they have been so kind to her and her family?

"Akane, my dear..." Mrs. Saotome called out and fast approached her as soon as she entered the premise. "What happened?" she asked looking distressed and worried. "Why would our Ranma is refusing to come home? And why he was saying he's letting you go and sending these offensive documents? It's not even a year ~ "

Her face drained of color as his parents' words registered. It had come to this. He was asking for a divorce. The reality hit her hard. Her body turned cold, her knees weakened, and she clung to the nearest support to steady herself.

"Akane?" Mrs. Saotome seemed to notice the shock and the pain that hit her. "Are you alright?"

She managed to nod her head.

"Sit down here." The old lady helped her to sit down on the nearest dining chair.

"Why even ask what happened? The answer is right in front of you... because your no-good son is foolish, irresponsible, and incompetent. A total disappointment." Ranma's father interjected. "He has no regard for those who cherish and support him. He only values himself. I'm officially ashamed that he's my son!"

"That's not true at all!" Akane couldn't help but snap upon hearing what Mr. Genma Saotome had to say about his son. "It's not true that he's a no-good. It's not true that he's irresponsible nor incompetent. Maybe a little foolish but he's definitely not a disappointment. He cherishes both of you, works hard to make you proud, and it pains him when he does things that he knows would disappoint you." And then she realized she was talking to Ranma's parents.

"I'm sorry for the outburst. I just mean, you should be proud of him. As someone's daughter, I wanted to be like him. I want to make my father proud of me by accomplishing great things using my knowledge or talent. Do you know that the US government has approved his proposed energy-saving design of an alternate electricity supply system? And that they are appointing him to co-lead the project. It's amazing, right? I was blown away and awed when I heard about it. And he's been a good husband to me. He's sweet, caring, and always thinking of what's best for me moving forward. I bet if he could redo the past for me, he would." The thought made her smile as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"I left him abroad because I don't want to hinder his personal success and then ruin his long-awaited dream. Working with him in the same company and as his executive assistant, I personally had an idea how he put his heart and soul into his goals and ambitions. Passion is what keeps him going through sleepless nights, stressful meetings, and finding ways to make what seems impossible, possible. It's what's putting those big bright ideas inside that amazing brain of his and what's holding him down despite all his unbelievable accomplishments." Realizing she's been gushing like a schoolgirl about her crush, she suddenly stops herself from blabbering.

"Uh ~ what I'm trying to say is... Ranma is an amazing, wonderful person. I loved him before, but I love him more than ever now that I've truly gotten to know him. It's just... I don't deserve someone like him. And if letting him go is the only good thing I can do for him, then I will... I would do it for him over and over again."

"It doesn't make sense." Mr. Saotome grumbled, staring down at the papers Ranma had sent.

"And here..." she said, handing over a flash drive. "These are the CCTV footage from the night Ranma punched Kuno. You can see how Kuno deliberately upset Ranma by harassing me almost the entire night. I also managed to get a copy of the CCTV footage from the time I almost punched that jerk myself."

"Please make the board of directors watch the video as well. I heard that that incident jeopardized Ranma's future as the next CEO of your company. Not that it still matters now if he decides to stay abroad but still, please use it to clear and Ranma's reputation." She told Mrs. Saotome as she reached for the flash drive from the table.

"Did he send those papers for me?" she inquired, she had a feeling that those were divorce papers and meant for her to sign.

"I'm not sure if we should be giving this to you. He fought a hard battle to win the chance to marry you instead of his betrothed. We couldn't believe he's letting you go when you love him as much as he did," said Mrs. Saotome.

"He had a betrothed?"

"He didn't tell you?"

She shook her head. God knows she doesn't have the slightest faintest idea.

Mrs. Saotome's phone then started ringing. "It's Ranma," she announced, immediately picking up the call.

"Sorry, who's this again?" the old lady asked. "Ukyo? Why are you with son's phone? Where is he?"

She tensed upon hearing Ukyo's name. Ranma's mother then walked to the other side of the room, far enough for her to be unable to hear their conversation.

"Uh, I think I will need to excuse myself now." She told Mr. Saotome. "I'll take care of this and send it back later." She added picking up the brown envelope from the table.

Mr. Saotome grunted but allowed her to take the documents with her.

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So, he's with Ukyo now. He's letting Ukyo use his phone and even asked her to call his parents. He's really moving on with Ukyo. That's why he sent her this divorce paper and let his parents know. She thought he couldn't afford to make his parents be sad and disappointed because of his reckless action. Right, maybe he thought through things and realized she wasn't worth anything.

No, she's not gonna cry. She's tired of crying, crying because of him. She'll stand by her decision. She'll not regret it. But damn, why does it hurt so much?

She missed him. She missed him so badly. She should have cherished the moments when she was with him. She should have appreciated him more and everything he's done for her. If she had done that, she could have treated him better, listened to him without prejudice... then he would have opened up to her. They could have been friends, best of friends, or maybe... even more than that. But she wasted most of the time she was together with him. It's all her fault. He could have stayed forever with her.

No, that's impossible. She shook her head. He had a dream, an ambition, and she loves him too much to hold him back because of her selfish, idiotic reason called love. She nodded like a crazy fool. She did good, a good job of letting him go... she thought, half convincing herself. Then she cried with all her might, in the middle of the crowded sidewalk.