Why Betrayal Is My Biggest Dealbreaker

People often ask me why betrayal is my biggest dealbreaker.
Why do I react so strongly when someone breaks trust?
The reason goes back to an incident in secondary school that shaped me forever.

I attended a boarding school, and I had a reputation as a rule keeper, the boy teachers liked and trusted.
My boarding house master liked me too.
Other students believed he treated me with favouritism because, on resumption days, my bag was never searched for contraband.
“Emmanuel can’t bring contraband,” they would say.

But here’s the truth:
I was the king of contraband.

One day, someone came to class and told me the boarding house master was calling me and another student to the hostel.
When we got there, he began threatening:
“I’ll do this, I’ll do that…”
He mentioned reporting us to the principal.

I hated being in trouble, so in panic, I brought out the contraband.

The look in his eyes when I handed it over is something I’ll never forget.
He went completely silent.
He wasn’t even concerned about the other student.
He looked weak, disappointed, and betrayed.

He told me all the threats were just to scare me, that he had never believed I would bring contraband.
He said because we were close, he expected that even if I had something, I could have quietly come to him.

That look still haunts me. The Words That Cut Deep

He later said something I’ll never forget:

“You cannot trust anybody.”

At that moment, it felt like I had destroyed his belief that trust still exists.
Maybe I was supposed to be the one to restore his faith that not everyone is the same, but instead, I ruined it.

From that day, I vowed never to betray the trust of anyone, mentors, parents, or friends.
And to this day, betrayal of trust is my dealbreaker.
I don’t ever want to see that look of disappointment again on someone’s face because of me.

The Lesson That Stays With Me

When somebody trusts you,
When somebody puts all their trust in you,
Don’t betray their trust.

Because once it’s broken,
It’s not just the relationship that suffers
It’s the belief that trust is even possible.