His Untamed Rose novel Chapter 18

Stella hadn’t expected Lumina to order her around so bluntly.

What she envied most about Lumina was that, whether Cedric was present or not, Lumina always carried herself with aloof confidence—proud and untouchable. And clearly, Cedric didn’t seem to mind that about her at all.

By contrast, Stella had to put on a delicate, helpless act just to win a shred of Cedric’s sympathy.

She pressed her lips together, her eyes welling up with tears. “I was sitting here first… Ms. Jardin, why do you have to take my seat?”

The melodramatic look on Stella’s face only made Lumina feel a wave of disgust.

Lumina refused to believe that a 21-year-old college graduate didn’t understand the significance of the passenger seat in a car.

She glanced at Cedric, silently inviting him to decide.

“Enough. Go sit in the back,” Cedric said coolly, his gaze settling on Lumina.

Lumina clenched her fingers in silence.

The two stared each other down, their stubbornness sparking in the charged silence.

Suddenly Stella gathered her skirt, stood up with reddened eyes, and said tremulously, “Please, don’t fight. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken this seat. I’ll move.”

But before she could step aside, Cedric’s voice rang out from the driver’s seat, “Sit down.”

His tone wasn’t loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

Both Lumina and Stella went rigid.

Stella’s heart leapt. “Mr. Royce, but Ms. Jardin—”

Cedric’s fingers drummed impatiently against the steering wheel, his irritation barely concealed. “I’ll say this one last time. Get in.”

Lumina shot him a long, steady look. Then she opened the back door and slid inside.

The rest of the drive was silent.

Oddly enough, Stella tried to play peacemaker. Like a little ray of sunshine, she chattered about how difficult her client had been that day, then switched topics to the new artisanal coffee shop that had just opened by the roadside.

Cedric responded with little more than polite indifference.

Every so often, he glanced at the rearview mirror, catching sight of Lumina in the back seat, her gaze fixed on her phone.

Stella, sticking close to Cedric, suddenly gawked at Linus in shock. “Bro?! What are you doing here?”

Linus looked her up and down, taking his time. A full ten seconds passed before recognition dawned and then horror.

“Holy crap! You? In twenty-one years, have you ever worn a fitted dress?”

“And what did you do to your bird’s nest hair? Straightened it? You’re killing me here!”

“I have to get a picture for Mom. She won’t believe this!”

Laughing and teasing, Linus whipped out his phone and snapped photos of Stella from every angle, sending them straight to the Naylor family group chat.

“Linus! You are so dead!”

Stella, face blazing, shrieked and lunged after him, hurling threats as she chased him around.

Lumina stood there, stunned, needing a moment to process what she’d just seen.

So Stella was Linus’s little sister. No wonder—she remembered overhearing Linus in Cedric’s office once, asking him for a favor, saying things like, “Please, look after her.”