Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren)

Chapter #10

From the moment Shiloh first mentioned she was over 80, Andrew had suspected she suffered from a rare condition-one commonly known as the "ageless syndrome". As the name suggested, those affected by it never aged beyond a certain point.

Looking at Shiloh, even with her veil on, Andrew could tell she had likely stopped aging in her early 20s-still in the prime of youth. To the outside world, ageless syndrome sounded like a blessing-eternal youth.

Yet, in reality, for many who suffered from it, it was a nightmare. Some stopped growing as infants, toddlers, or even newborns, forever trapped in a child's body.

On the other hand, Shiloh was one of the lucky few she had at least matured into adulthood before her aging had frozen.

Nonetheless, the ageless syndrome was not as wonderful as it seemed. Certain conditions-cold, extreme heat, or even specific lunar phases-could trigger unbearable pain, or worse, episodes of mental instability.

In Shiloh's case, she was not just dealing with ageless syndrome. She also had amnesia.

That meant her memories had been wiped-either entirely or in fragments-and she might continue to forget things as time went on.

Andrew sighed, shaking his head. "With two rare conditions like that, no wonder you chose to live alone in the Southern Highlands."

There was a hint of sympathy in his voice.

Shiloh's tone remained even. "I don't have any friends. I don't remember anyone. If I were around people too often, it would only cause trouble. Living in The Southern Highlands isn't so bad, except for being broke all the time.

"There are so many delicious foods, beautiful things I've never been able to experience. Thankfully, I learned how to use TikTok. That helped me connect with people and make some friends!"

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through videos.

Andrew, focused on driving, could not look, so he asked casually, "How many followers do you have?"noveldrama

Shiloh turned the screen toward him with a slight hint of pride. "Not a lot, just a little over a million."

Andrew nearly did a double take. After all, a million followers was no small number. That meant Shiloh was a full-fledged social media influencer. It also explained why so many socialites and wellness enthusiasts in Jayrodale worshipped her.

A second later, another thought struck him. "Wait... if you have that many followers, shouldn't you be making decent money?"

Shiloh replied, "I make some money from my videos, but it's not a lot. The wellness niche isn't as popular as... you know, those videos with girls in sheer stockings, dancing provocatively for views."

Andrew nodded in understanding. On TikTok, nothing attracted traffic quite like long legs, black lace, and borderline suggestive content.

When he first started using the app, before he met Lauren and Francesca, he had sometimes scrolled mindlessly- though, in his defense, he was mostly there for professional knowledge.

The algorithm, however, had its own plans. Sometimes, it would throw those "suggestive" videos his way, and, well... he was not one to reject good research material.

Andrew was starting to feel like Shiloh was a blank slate. With her following, someone should have reached out to

her by now.

He asked, "So, since you've already gained popularity, has anyone invited you to do ads, endorsements, or TV segments?"

Shiloh frowned slightly as if recalling something unpleasant. "No one's ever asked me to do endorsements Especially not someone as generous as you, Mr. Lloyd. But have been contacted by a few... let's just say, questionable people. They even sent me weird videos."

Andrew's brow twitched. "And?"

Shiloh's voice remained neutral. "Nothing much. Just videos of two naked people wrestling. It was completely pointless. I wasn't interested, so I declined. But once, there was an issue.

"Some people somehow found out

where I lived and came to The Southern Highlands in the middle of the night to try and capture me. thought they were being a little too aggressive, so I got annoyed. + killed them all and threw their bodies into the river at the bottom of the mountain."

Andrew was silent for a long moment. The way she said it so casual, so indifferent-it was as if she was talking about brushing away dust instead of committing mass murder.

He almost pitied those poor bastards. Out of all the people they could have tried

to exploit for their seedy film business, they had chosen her.

If Shiloh ever truly lost her temper, even an entire squad of trained mercenaries would not be enough to stop her.

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