Ivan was tired of all this – tired of the old professor going on and on, tired of the beautiful and young Helena ignoring his advances, tired…of being tired. So he was going to end this, but not by killing himself. No. He was smarter than that. Surely the only solution would be to kill the professor, even if he was Ivan's brother-in-law; that man was the source of all his troubles, anyhow.
That man hated him or, as Helena called it, feared him. That man was Helena's husband and, with any luck, the only thing keeping him from her. That man was also the source of poor Sonya's troubles. Honestly, who was so low as to take the heir's estate away from them? Sure, it had been his sister's estate, but his sister was gone. Sonya was here and she was the heir. She had worked so hard for this…
That man was trying to take his niece's home away from her, and he wouldn't allow that.
He had stormed out of the room and to his own, furious. Yes, he was going to end all of this. He rummaged through desk drawers in his room before a crazed smile formed on his face. His trusty pistol was in hands again.
"Vanya…"
And his victim had just walked in the door. Lovely.
He turned towards the professor, aiming the gun right for his heart. There was a gunshot.
Ivan expected to see that man crumble and fall, bleeding. There was no blood. There was no falling. There was just a bullet hole in the wall; he had missed.
"Damnation!" the man swore, just in time to see the professor dart out of the room as fast as his old legs could carry him, but Ivan wasn't going to let him go. Not now. Not while he was so close.
He darted out of the room after the professor, thoughts of murder and violence clouding his mind. All he knew right now was that the professor had to pay, and he would make it so.
"Ah, there he is!"
He was younger than his brother-in-law so he was able to catch up. He darted across the family room, paying no mind to the others there, even as they tried to restrain him. As quick as he could, he took aim and fired.
No…
"I didn't get him?"
No!
"I missed again?"
He had indeed missed. Again!
"Damnation! Damnation! To hell with him!" With that cry of rage, he flung his gun at a wall before collapsing onto the couch, body shaking with nothing more than anger…until he heard cries.
He knew that voice. Immediately, regret flooded over him. Not that he felt bad about trying to kill Alexander. He didn't. That man deserved to die.
But…
Sonya. She was crying. Because of him. She had only been sniffling back tears earlier. But now? She was bawling – bawling! – and it was all his fault. He didn't dare look at her. He just held his head in his hands and began to cry.
Weakly, he muttered to himself, "Oh, what shall I do? What shall I do?"
Sonya was hurt because of him. Helena still wasn't his. The professor was alive. Again, his efforts had been a waste, hurting others more than it helped.
Damn that professor.