The system voice returned, smooth and certain: "Owner profile confirmed. Welcome home, Mr. Carter."
Gasps rolled through the street. Phones lifted higher. The teenager on live stream nearly shouted into his mic: "Did y'all hear that? It just said he's the owner! Not a guest, not a visitor—the owner!"
The woman in white stumbled back a step, her face drained. "No, that can't be... He's lying! He staged this!" Her words faltered under the glow of screens capturing every second.
Carter finally spoke, his tone measured, deliberate: "You called me a trespasser at my own mansion. You tried to cuff me at my own gate, and you dared to erase me from what I built."
The crowd stirred, murmurs swelling into open disbelief at the guards. A man in the SUV shook his head, voice carrying: "She said he didn't belong. Turns out she's the one who doesn't."
The younger guard's badge buzzed again, flashing the words "Permanently revoked." His hands trembled as he shoved it into his pocket, eyes darting toward Carter, but finding no ground to stand on.
Carter's phone remained at his side. Nia's voice came faint, but clear from the speaker: "All systems synced. Authority recognized. Do you want public verification engaged?"
Carter's gaze swept across the crowd: the live streams, the faces pressed to windows. He didn't hesitate. "Yes. Let them all see."
The gate's screen flickered, shifting from text to image. A glossy magazine cover appeared: Forbes, his face centered with the headline, "Carter Holdings CEO Expands Global Portfolio." Another image followed: a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the very mansion, his hand on the shears.
The crowd gasped louder now, the murmurs no longer whispers, but exclamations: "That's him!" "He really owns it!" "They tried to throw out the owner of the whole estate!"
The woman shook her head violently, retreating. "No, no, this isn't happening..."
But no one believed her anymore.