The lights shifted.
A soft chime rang across the room, like wind through crystal. The music lowered to a hum. All around us, masked heads turned toward the grand stage where a spotlight now illuminated Mr. Johnson.
He stepped forward and the room fell into a reverent hush.
"Friends, partners, visionaries," Mr. Johnson's voice boomed through invisible speakers, "Welcome to Eden Reimagined."
A wave of applause.
"Tonight isn't just about elegance, illusion, or the thrill of temptation," he continued. "It's about triumph. About the kind of vision that begins as an impossible dream and ends with golden gates thrown wide open."
He gestured toward the animated walls—where the evolution of the Johnson Mall played like a living storybook, glass facades blooming from scaffolding, gardens growing between steel. A time-lapse of ambition. A temple of commerce, now alive.
