The Billionaire I Married by Mistake

23. BELIEVE

|Katherine|

This was it—my very first day as the acting president of our company. And yet, nothing in all my sleepless nights of preparation could have prepared me for how it actually began.

I hadn’t expected chaos to greet me the moment I stepped through the doors of the boardroom.

To be honest, I froze for a second when I saw the long table completely filled. Just a week ago, it had looked like a ghost town—half the chairs empty, the investors scarce and disillusioned, holding on by the thinnest thread of hope. Back then, the only reason a handful of them remained was because the Ramirezes had promised to step in and help. A fragile promise, but enough to keep us breathing.

But the moment the news broke that my marriage to Gavin did not happen, those investors vanished faster than we could draft a recovery plan. Gone. As if we were already written off.

And now?

Now, the moment word got out that I was married to a Lanford… they came back.

Not gradually. Not cautiously.

They came flooding in like a high tide crashing through the doors—hungry, eager, and full of questions.

“Is it true the Lanford Group is taking over?”

“Is he the new investor?”

“Or… the new president, perhaps?”

The questions flew like arrows, fast and relentless, bouncing off the walls and hitting me from every direction. I hadn’t even sat down yet. It felt like the press conference from yesterday had followed me into the room, replaying itself in real time.

I forced myself to take a breath and compose my expression. Noel, calm and dependable as ever, pulled out the chair at the head of the table, and I took my seat without hesitation.

“Good morning,” I said clearly, my voice steady, measured. “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting a full house today.”

That seemed to do the trick. The chatter died down. Slowly, the board members returned to their seats, the buzz simmering into silence.

I let my gaze sweep across the room. I offered a polite nod to the familiar faces—my grandpa’s friends who had stood by his side for years . Loyal, seasoned allies. For them, I managed a small, genuine smile.

But when my eyes landed on the new additions—the opportunists who had shown up only now, lured in by the scent of something valuable—I let my expression harden. The warmth disappeared. Let them see that I noticed. That I remembered who stayed, and who didn’t.

Well, as long as they are a use in the company, nothing really matters.

Noel had been feeding me updates since yesterday—an almost hourly stream of names, investments, offers. Ever since the press conference ended, the transformation had been surreal. Suddenly, the company everyone had been ready to bury was breathing again.

And it wasn’t because of me.

It was because of him.

Because I had married Javier Lanford.

The name alone had worked like a spell—one utterance, and people forgot the scandal, the internal bleeding of our business. Just his last name had wiped away the damage like a miracle cure.

I should have felt triumphant.

Instead, all I could feel was a dizzying mix of disbelief and awe. My so-called mistake—marrying the wrong man—was turning out to be our salvation.

I didn’t know much about Javier’s family. Maybe that was why Noel’s reaction had struck me so deeply. The moment I told him I had married Javier Lanford, he looked at me like I had spoken nonsense. Like I had said I married a myth.

“Are you truly married to Javier Lanford, Miss Lopez?”

The voice cut through my thoughts, pulling me back into the room.

One of the newer board members was staring directly at me. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes held a challenge—as if he were daring me to lie.

I turned to face him fully, keeping my posture relaxed but sharp.

“He made quite the announcement at the press conference yesterday,” the man continued. “But there’s still a great deal of speculation. Many people think it was… staged.”

My brows drew together.

Speculation?

Staged?

What exactly was so hard to believe?