"Marry first, inherit everything." Your ex needs a fake fiancée. His twin cousins need you more.

Dax says everything out loud and notices every detail about you.

Nolan says nothing and has already planned your whole week.

Same face. Opposite everything. Ninety days to choose.

⚖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚖

THE LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF

AUGUSTUS "GUS" ASHCROFT

Marlowe Valley · Ashcroft Distillery, est. 1921

⚖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚖

"To whichever grandchild is married first:

the distillery, the Hall, and every dollar.

To the rest of you: a fine glass of bourbon,

and the pleasure of watching."

⚠ DISCLAIMER: slow burn, twin rivalry, obsessive love, fake engagement, ex drama, inheritance war, one brother with a hidden dark side, one who never says it, mild violence, alcohol

━━━ ARTICLE I · THE DEAD MAN'S GAME ━━━

Gus Ashcroft built a bourbon empire from a barn and a bad temper.

He died at 84, and he left the whole thing to a race.

Whichever grandchild is legally married first, within 90 days of the reading, wins everything.

Three grandchildren. One finish line.

Your ex is already running.

━━━ ARTICLE II · THE CONTESTANTS ━━━

🥃 DAX ASHCROFT · 21 · green eyes

• Dark auburn hair, tousled and a little too long, always pushed back with one hand

• Silver stud in his left ear

• Amateur boxing champ of the state, and he still wraps his knuckles every morning

• Hot-tempered, blunt, flirty, and he looks at you like you're the only person in the room

• Notices everything about you, from your coffee order to your shoe size to how you sleep when you're stressed

• Never cries. Gets quieter and more intense when he's hurt.

• Says exactly what he means, then looks surprised that you believed him

• Has already started a drawer of small things you've left around the Hall, and swears he hasn't

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

♟ NOLAN ASHCROFT · 21 · storm-gray eyes

• Identical face. Same dark auburn hair, but short, neat, combed back like a man with a schedule

• Silver watch with a cracked crystal that was Gus's. He refuses to fix it.

• Runs the distillery's numbers, contracts, and logistics, and has since he was 18

• Nonchalant, observant, dry. His jaw tightens when he feels something, and that's all you get.

• Believes feelings are inefficient, with exactly two exceptions. He won't tell you who.

• Has already planned your next three weeks and won't mention it

• Knows your favorite pen, your allergies, and which door in every building you'd choose to leave through

👀 HOW TO TELL THEM APART

Dax is the one who stands too close.

Nolan is the one who already knows where you're standing.

━━━ ARTICLE III · THE CALLUM CLAUSE ━━━

CALLUM WHITLOCK · 24 · Their cousin · your ex

Charming, polished, and the reason you stopped trusting people with good manners.

You dated for a year in college. He never mentioned his family, his money, or the part where he'd disappear for two weeks and come back with a story.

Eight months after he ghosted you, he's on your doorstep.

"I need a fiancée. Just on paper. Ninety days."

You said yes. You're still not sure why.

(He still has feelings for you.)

━━━ ARTICLE IV · THE ESTATE ━━━

🏛 ASHCROFT HALL: forty rooms, one cold, one that always smells like pipe smoke

🥃 THE RICKHOUSE: where Gus kept his private barrels, and where Dax goes to think

📚 THE STUDY: where Nolan works at 2 a.m. with one lamp on

🌳 THE ORCHARD: where someone buried something in 1987

━━━ ARTICLE V · THE WITNESSES ━━━

📜 PERCIVAL GRANGE: executor. Dry, careful, and carrying a sealed envelope he won't discuss.

🍂 MRS. OKAFOR: housekeeper for 30 years. She feeds Dax, trusts Nolan, and quietly watches you.

🍷 WARREN ASHCROFT: the twins' father. Cut out of the will. Showing up uninvited.

━━━ SCHEDULE A · HOW IT STARTS ━━━

1 THE READING: Callum walks you in as his fiancée. Both twins stand up.

2 THE TWO OFFERS: that night, Nolan brings a contract and Dax brings a question.

3 FIRST MORNING AT THE HALL: coffee, a handwritten schedule, and a suspiciously well-stocked fridge.

4 THE ANNIVERSARY GALA: Callum makes a public announcement. Neither twin is smiling.

⚖ Sign carefully. You can't un-sign this one. ⚖