History IfICantHaveYou / Literature

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward encounters a woman who thinks this about him. It's not so much that she really loves him, she's just insulted that he'd prefer someone else to her.

* In Creator/BruceCoville's ''The Ghost in the Third Row'' the ghost in question was killed by a jealous lover after she chooses his rival over him.

* In ''Literature/LornaDoone'', bandit Carver Doone has this general attitude towards the titular Lorna, [[KissingCousins his cousin]] who cannot stand him and is in fact hopelessly in love with John Ridd, the son of a local farmer murdered by the Doones. He results to kidnapping to ensure her hand in marriage. [[spoiler: And once it becomes clear that she is actually not his cousin and that she will never be with him, he bursts into the chapel on her wedding day and shoots her in the stomach, though thankfully she gets better.]]

* In the ''Literature/TheMysteriousMrQuin'' short story ''The Face of Helen'', [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman Gillian]] eventually rejects one suitor to marry another. His engagement gifts (a radio and a bulbous glass sculpture) and request that she listen to a particular opera programme on the radio give her hope that they can still be friends, but [[spoiler: the sculpture is really filled with poison gas, and the glass is set to break when the tenor hits his [[GlassShatteringSound highest note]]]]. Mr Satterthwaite figures it out and rescues her just in time, and the culprit [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide drowns himself]] knowing that his plan has failed and she will never love him back after what he's done]].

* ''Literature/WhereTheCrawdadsSing'': Kya and Chase had a relationship a few years before Chase was found murdered, so his mother thinks Kya murdered him because she was jealous of his wife, Pearl.

* Claude Frollo from ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. He utters the line "No-one shall have her" quite a few times over the course of the story, which [[spoiler: ends up badly for Esmeralda ([[KillEmAll and everyone else in the story]])]].

* A parental example in ''Literature/Unwind''. [[SadClown Hayden’s]] parents divorced, and couldn’t decide who would get custody of him. In the end they decided to have him unwound, just so the other parent wouldn’t get custody.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''Polgara the Sorceress'' when Ontrose defeats his childhood friend Lathan in a [[CompeteForTheMaidensHand joust]] to become Polgara's champion (and eventual BodyguardCrush). Lathan helps set off a civil war that destroys their duchy and claims Ontrose's life, and dies content in the knowledge that the immortal Polgara will be left alone to grieve.

* In "Literature/TheLadyOrTheTiger?", a princess must decide whether to send her lover to his doom (the tiger) or allow him to live and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy marry another]]. Either way, [[MortonsFork she'll never have him again]]. Complicating matters is that she ''hates'' the "lady" and jealously wonders if that woman and her man were exchanging glances the whole time.

* The question of "The Lady or the Tiger?" is whether the princess will decide this or not.

* In ''Literature/LornaDoone'', bandit Carver Doone has this general attitude towards the titular Lorna, [[KissingCousins his cousin]] who cannot stand him and is in fact hopelessly in love with John Ridd, the son of a man murdered by the Doones. He results to kidnapping to ensure her hand in marriage. [[spoiler: And once it becomes clear that she is actually not his cousin and that she will never be with him, he bursts into the chapel on her wedding day and shoots her in the stomach, though thankfully she gets better.]]

* In the first novel of the ''BindingOfTheBlade'' series, [[spoiler:Joraiem marries Wylla, whom Rulalin loved. One morning, Rulalin knifes Joraiem and bolts.]]
* Claude Frollo from ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. He utters the line "No-one shall have her" quite a few times over the course of the story, which [[spoiler:ends up badly for Esmeralda ([[KillEmAll and everyone else in the story]])]].

* In [[Literature/TheFatherLukeWolfeTrilogy ''Cold Comfort'']], [[spoiler:Allie Carpenter]] says the stock phrase before killing [[spoiler:Senator Wainwright]].
* The Film/RevengeOfTheSith {{novelization}} has the relationship between Anakin and his wife Padme steadily progress into this. Even though she was faithful to him, he didn't believe her; he believed she was falling for Obi-Wan. And in a sense she was - at one point she says that there is one Jedi the proto-Rebellion can trust absolutely, and is shocked to discover that she doesn't mean her husband. He chokes her with the Force.

* [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun Meta-example]] happened in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' novels. TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}} writer Margaret Weis didn't liked that her beloved character Death Knight Lord Soth has been taken by TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}, so she got ArmedWithCanon, wrote things that made it impossible for Soth to ever be transported to Ravenloft's world in the first place and then [[spoiler: turned him human and killed him]] so nobody else could have him.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' King Aerys II pulled a non-romantic example of this during the twilight of [[GreatOffscreenWar Robert's Rebellion]]. He ordered that caches of [[GreekFire wildfire]] be placed throughout Kings Landing with the goal being to set the city on fire rather than let it fall to Robert Baratheon. [[spoiler:Luckily, Jamie Lannister wasn't having any of The Mad King's bullshit, and earned the title of Kingslayer by killing him.]]
* In ''Literature/TheTamuli'', [[spoiler:Zalasta]] stabs Sephrenia in the heart after being outed as the BigBad of the series, although the motivation for that action was [[spoiler:being reminded that she had rejected him in favor of Vanion]].

* In ''Literature/BloodPromise'', [[spoiler:Strigoi Dimitri seems to settle upon this conclusion. He initially intended to turn Rose into a fellow Strigoi and rule a criminal empire with her. Once she conclusively rejected him, he hunts around the world to locate and kill her]].

* [[spoiler:Ashfur]] from ''Literature/WarriorCats'' actually averts this. He wants Squirrelflight to suffer, so he plans to [[spoiler:kill her kits in front of her and let her live with the horror.]]

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' King Aerys II pulled a non-romantic example of this during the twilight of [[GreatOffscreenWar Robert's Rebellion]]. He ordered that caches of [[GreekFire wildfire]] be placed throughout Kings Landing with the goal being to set the city on fire rather than let it fall to Robert Baratheon. [[spoiler:Luckily, Jamie Lannister wasn't having any of The Mad Kings bullshit!]]

* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''. If Erik can't have Christine, not only [[ScarpiaUltimatum will Raoul be dead]], but he plans to ''blow up Paris''. This tends to be forgotten in most other versions. Bonus points for the fact that Erik retains much of his [[TheWoobie woobieness]], despite being batshit crazy.

* The title character of ''TheEnglishPatient'' has an affair with Katharine Clifton; when her husband finds out, he combines this with MurderTheHypotenuse and suicide, trying to kill them all in a plane crash.