Adrian smiled at her. “The problem doesn’t lie in buying the house but in me. I can’t sleep because every time things grow quiet, my mind fills with scenes of the battlefield and my comrades covered in blood.

“I abandoned them,” he said forlornly.

“Is it because you’ve retired from military service?” Samantha asked.

Adrian did not answer.

Samantha said, “There’s a saying that one will bear responsibility as huge as one’s capability. Men aspire to travel far and make their mark. Are you only this way because of me?”

Adrian lowered his head and looked at Samantha. “Why would you think that?”

Samantha replied, “Even though we haven’t been together for a long time, I figured that we’re bound as husband and wife. You don’t want to disappoint me, yet you don’t want to leave the battlefield.

“You feel torn that you’ll have to choose to disappoint me or your comrades if a war breaks out in the future, am I right? You can tell me the truth,” Samantha said softly.

Adrian had not expecte