The morning sun brushed softly against her eyelids.

Victoria Bennett opened her eyes, momentarily confused, as though she were still back in her own bed at home.

It had been a week since she’d ended up inside the book.

Just a week ago, she was a carefree college student strolling across campus. Her internship report was signed off, her thesis had passed the final review, and all that was left was to relax at home and await her graduation certificate.

Looking back, she figured it must’ve been the drinks at the farewell dinner with her classmates. One moment, she was nursing a slight buzz and absentmindedly scrolling through a random novel on a reading app to fight insomnia, and the next—bam, she was here.

The book, frankly, wasn’t memorable. She could barely recall the details apart from the male lead’s almost comically overpowered life trajectory. Enlisting at seventeen, a big-time commander by thirty. The kind who could shake everything up with a simple step.

But her? Oh, she had nothing to do with his grand, drama-worthy life.

She wasn’t the ex. She wasn’t the love interest.

She was...his stepmother.

And not even an important one at that. The character had practically zero screen time—less than three appearances and barely three lines of dialogue.

Honestly, what was the point of this?

Still, Victoria wasn’t one to wallow. She had always been the type to look on the bright side. In this past week, she’d already managed to get a sense of her new reality.This was the late 1970s, and the place she lived in was a small, remote county in the third-line region. Her husband, Edward Lawrence, was a retired soldier who had been reassigned to work as the director of the Red Steel Plant. He was already thirty-five years old this year.

When Victoria Bennett heard his age, she couldn’t help but picture a pot-bellied, middle-aged factory director in her head.

But honestly, she didn’t need to worry about him for now because he went on a work trip right after they got married.

As for his big-shot son, he’d been living with his grandparents in the capital, so there was no point thinking about him either.

The original owner of this body came from a working-class family tied to the third-line construction. She was the second child among three siblings, with an older brother and a younger sister who was currently in her second year of high school.

After graduating high school, the original owner was assigned to the steel factory’s boiler room. It wasn’t exactly a dream job, but at least it spared her from being sent to work in the countryside, which was considered a decent outcome at the time.

Her life was pretty much predictable—a straightforward path with no surprises. But somehow, she unexpectedly got together with Edward Lawrence, and within a month of meeting, they got married.

This shocked everyone around them, and rumors started flying. People wondered what kind of angelic beauty this young bride must be to make the factory director tie the knot so hastily.

Victoria could actually answer that one.

She had been a knockout since she was a kid, with plenty of admirers over the years.

Maybe that’s why she ended up transmigrating into a body with the same name and face as hers?

With these thoughts in mind, Victoria carefully spruced herself up before coming downstairs.Mrs. Atkins had already set up breakfast.

"Good morning, ma’am."

"Morning."

Victoria Bennett kept her head down, quietly eating the bowl of red date millet porridge in front of her, acting as if she didn’t notice Mrs. Atkins' watchful gaze.

Mrs. Atkins, being someone Edward Lawrence had brought over from his family in the city, naturally had a sense of loyalty toward him. And now, faced with the sudden appearance of this new lady of the house, she couldn’t help but feel both curious and cautious.

After finishing half the bowl, Victoria finally raised her head and calmly looked over.

“Mrs. Atkins, is there something on your mind?”

Caught staring, Mrs. Atkins looked a bit embarrassed but managed a polite smile. “Ma’am, you’ve dressed up so beautifully today. Are you going back to your family home?”

Victoria’s family had moved here from the south because of the third-line construction project. It wasn’t far, and as a newlywed, it wouldn’t be out of place for her to visit.

But it had been a week since she came, and she hadn’t made any plans to go back—and she didn’t intend to, either.

“No, not today. There’s nothing urgent to go for.”