Summary:

Ilya's father wakes him at four in the morning to tell him that he never had dementia, and that Ilya must leave Russia, right now, permanently. Forty-something hours later Ilya is standing in a township office in rural Ontario, marrying Shane Hollander for citizenship. Everything after that — the lawyer, the joint account, the wills, the drive up to the cottage — was never part of the plan.

Alternatively: In the summer of 2016, Ilya must flee Russia, never to return. Shane makes a brilliant plan: marry Ilya to get him Canadian citizenship. It’s only after the wedding that they realize citizenship law doesn’t really work that way.

Alternatively x 2: My inversion of the “married for citizenship” trope.