Chapter 318

Of course we'll proceed with the interview!

The man extended his hand with a confident smile. "Declan Vaughn. Pleasure to meet you."

Camille shook it firmly. "I know." She already held his resume in her other hand.

Studying him, she arched a brow. "So, who's interviewing whom here?"

Declan's grin widened. "Your call."

His resume highlighted expertise in algorithms. Camille tested his proficiency in data scrubbing, feature extraction, and hyperparameter optimization. She particularly assessed his ability to devise creative solutions under pressure.

Their discussion stretched longer than anticipated.

By the end, Camille was impressed. For someone who'd only entered AI research eighteen months ago after a career switch, his depth of knowledge was remarkable.

If he maintained this trajectory, he'd reshape the industry.

Closing his file, she finally asked the personal question burning in her mind. "You've lived in Lucerne since childhood. Why return now?"

Their entire conversation had been a mutual evaluation. Declan had witnessed her coding prowess when she debugged his algorithm earlier. Now he understood why people called her the "Architect of Horizon-CM" - her strategic thinking was terrifyingly precise.

"Your work," he answered without hesitation. "The Nexa language. Especially NovaSight Labs's Horizon-CM project. The AI ecosystem here is exploding while Lucerne's stagnating."

Then he leaned forward. "My turn now."

Before she could react, Declan stood and closed the distance between them. "Relationship status? Ideal type? And..." His eyes gleamed. "Do I qualify?"

The other interviewers stifled laughter behind their hands.

Camille remained impassive. "No." She snapped his file shut. "Interview concluded."

As she stood to leave, Declan took it as acceptance. "I can start immediately. Don't even need orientation."

She walked out without glancing back.

#25 DOMUE

Gabriel returned that afternoon, loosening his tie. "Any promising candidates today?"

"Two standouts." She handed him the files.

He scanned them, then froze at Declan's photo. "Him?"

"You know him?"

"The Vaughn heir." Gabriel whistled. "Top-ranked financier until two years ago when he suddenly switched to AI. His family nearly disowned him - they own half of Lucerne's banking sector."

Flipping the page, he added, "Rumor says he's gone rogue. Whole family's searching Europe for him. Never imagined he'd surface here."