Dig In First

She slowly approached. Caleb held three black folders in total.

"There are also confirmation forms for the transfer of existing assets and income. I asked Zayne, so I have a general idea of how you handle things, and I brought an agreement waiving the asset transfer. Still, however you want to sign them, I have no objections."

Xiao Yan was puzzled. "You know Zayne?"

"We were neighbors as children. You could call us childhood friends." At this, Caleb turned his gaze back to Xiao Yan. "Zayne is very reliable. Things seem to be going well between you. Congratulations."

"..." Xiao Yan really could not bear those congratulations.

Caleb had known Zayne since childhood, much like their backstory in the game.

But Xiao Yan had been absent from both their childhood and Caleb's adult life.

They were not siblings. There was no deeply rooted bond.

Caleb looked at her so calmly, as though she were someone of no consequence.

What should I do?

Xiao Yan suppressed the ache in her heart and thought frantically.

Before she could think of a way to address the problem, a word slipped out. "Brother..."

Caleb froze. "Are you talking to me?"

Those puppy-dog eyes, which should have been so full of love, held nothing but confusion.

Xiao Yan forced herself to continue. "Brother."

"That way of addressing me..." Caleb lowered his eyes. "Don't you find it strange?"

Yes, it was strange. Xiao Yan smiled self-mockingly.

Leaving enough space for another person between herself and Caleb, Xiao Yan sat on the sofa and picked up the pen.

She signed the promotion confirmation form in the space for the wife.

She signed the agreement waiving her claim to his existing assets.

She signed the confirmation for the transfer of future income, then took a bank card printed with a red apple out of her bag.

Xiao Yan tucked the card into the folder, dejected. "The PIN is your birthday."

"All right." Unlike Rafayel, Caleb had no questions about her using his birthday as the PIN.

He put the bank card separately into his breast pocket, gathered the three folders, and stood. "Although you've signed away your claim to my assets, if you want to reclaim them in the future, you can tell me at any time. I'll cooperate with you in processing the transfer again."

He was not curious about anything concerning Xiao Yan.

Nor did he have the slightest interest in asking.

"All right." Xiao Yan lowered her head.

Caleb silently looked at the top of her head for a few seconds. "Thank you. I'll be heading to near-Earth orbit on a patrol mission for half a month. If there's anything urgent you need my help with right away, you can tell me now. I'll do my best to accommodate you before the mission."

The way he put it.

He might as well have laid "This is nothing but a transaction between us" out on the table.

Then Xiao Yan would not hold back.

In any case, Caleb looked to be the hardest of the five men to build a connection with.

Then she would turn up the pressure, forget reasoning with him, and forcibly establish the connection she wanted!

"Sleep... with me once," Xiao Yan said. "My mother wants me to choose one of you five as my primary husband. The other four will be secondary husbands. You'll be the primary husband."

"..." Of course Caleb understood what she meant.

First, shock and surprise.

Second, disgust and aversion.

He had no intention of discussing feelings with any woman, nor of competing for favor with his childhood friend Zayne.

Although one wife having multiple husbands was the norm in this world, the most Caleb could do to compromise with reality was cooperate with his wife in name and be an inconsequential secondary husband.

Go through the motions and comply with some worldly rules and procedures. Nothing more.

"For your primary husband, don't you think Zayne would be a better choice?" Caleb asked.

"A sheep beastman, gentle and kind. I'm afraid he won't be able to keep the others in line." Xiao Yan stood as well.

She approached Caleb and tilted her head up, staring into his eyes. "If you're thinking of suggesting Sylus, he's arrogant enough to keep them in line, but he probably has no interest in managing the rest of you. In this household, he'll only pay attention to me. I need someone with a stronger sense of family and management."

Of course Caleb understood very well the general personality tendencies a beastman's type could determine.

He could understand Xiao Yan's concerns and thought they made a certain amount of sense.

But he truly did not want to.

"Just this once. I won't force you again after this." Xiao Yan raised her hand.

With one finger, she hooked the tie of his fleet officer's uniform out of his impeccably straight uniform jacket. "If you want all the documents at work that require your wife's signature to get signed smoothly in the future, you'd better be good and give in to me this once."

Caleb's brows drew together.

Indeed, given his position in the military, every work procedure was filled with steps requiring his wife's confirmation.

Whether it was receiving a decoration or reporting on a battle, without a wife, or if his wife refused to sign, he would struggle to get anywhere.

"You should know that if your wife resorts to coercion, you won't be able to keep serving smoothly as a fleet officer." Xiao Yan gave a cold smile. "And my Xiao Family won't readily allow its eldest daughter to change primary husbands. We each get what we need and play our roles as wife and primary husband in name. Wouldn't that be a win-win?"

Caleb lowered his eyes to watch Xiao Yan toy with his tie. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

There was clearly Zayne, someone with whom she could share love and respect, and several other candidates with whom she had a better chance of falling in love and coming to understand one another.

Caleb could not understand why Xiao Yan insisted on choosing him.

Xiao Yan did not want to explain. "I'm absolutely sure."

Right now, any words would be futile.

She could not be sure how things between her and Caleb would develop.

But even if she had to use methods that disgusted Caleb, she had to have him.

"I hope you won't regret it."

Caleb bent down and swept Xiao Yan into his arms. "Is your bedroom on the second floor?"

Xiao Yan wrapped her arms around Caleb's neck and nodded.

"I'll keep tonight a secret from Zayne." Caleb strode up the stairs with his head held high. "He doesn't seem to know you have such a lustful side. Better not to shatter his illusions so easily."

What an absolute bastard.

He had actually agreed to cooperate while still using his words to stab her in the heart.

"We'll handle the matter of the primary husband after I return from this patrol. I need to meet your mother, correct? I won't compromise myself to cater to her tastes."

Even more of a bastard. Damn him.

He carried Xiao Yan all the way back to her bedroom and kicked the door shut.

After setting her on the large bed, Caleb took off his fleet officer's cap and placed it on the bedside table.

Standing beside the bed, he began taking off his clothes, one piece at a time.

It was strange. In the past, with any other woman, Caleb could never have agreed to terms like these.

Selling his body was not something he could accept.

But Xiao Yan... Something about her felt different.

Especially those two calls of "Brother." They seemed to have awakened another side of him that no one knew about.

Did he like the sense of taboo?

In all these years, he had never noticed it himself.

Xiao Yan pulled up the covers over herself and stared straight at Caleb.

"I don't know what household matters a primary husband is supposed to handle. You can have Uncle Sang make me a list, but I'll only promise to attend to the matters on it outside my working hours."

Once Caleb had stripped down to just his shirt, he placed one knee on the bed and leaned over Xiao Yan. "I hope we can maintain our relationship in name. No matter how dissatisfied you are with me, you'd best... mm..."

Xiao Yan raised her upper body, closed her eyes, and sealed his mouth with hers.

She did not like this kind of intimacy without feeling.

But as long as it was Caleb, Xiao Yan could cast aside all those tangled, stinging feelings in her heart.

Dig in first. Worry about the rest later.