Howard POV.
Ryan was getting excited about my failure.
But I was prepared for it.
He's used this move against me before to take my throne, and I wouldn't allow myself to make the same mistake a second time.
So, before I came here, I had already deployed everything in advance.
Previous experiences have taught me that the only person I can trust is myself.
Perhaps at first, I tried to trust Monica and was even willing to make a deal with her because she made a condition to me.
Any deal can only be a partnership for a while if both parties are eager to profit from it.
On the other hand, Ella was a woman who appeared out of nowhere and whom I did not trust at all.
Maybe she really did rush back to deal with it out of fear, as she said, after foreseeing some terrible future.
But she f
