“Thanks, but no thanks.” A quarter of my beverage swiftly went down my tummy in an act of defiance. “I’m finally beginning to understand what’s going on, and that’s cause for celebration. Yeah, all of your little encouragements and tidbits of praise? At first, I was wondering why you were doing it. I thought it was your not-so-subtle way of earning my trust. Now? It couldn’t be more obvious: You’re just idolizing me so that you can get your stupid checkmark for your table thingamajig! You want me to abdicate so that you can win again!”