For one reason or another, relationships exist among humans. It could be a family bond, friendship, or romantic relationship, though the latter seems to be the most adopted interpretation.
Since my childhood, I have related to many people, ranging from family members, friends, colleagues, etc. At one point or another, I have had reason to lose some relationships. I have my standard of operation. The bedrock of that standard is happiness and good mental health. Irrespective of my relationship with someone, once my happiness and mental health are threatened, I would call it a quit. I can't guard a relationship while I lose myself in the process.
It is very easy for me to start a relationship, not necessarily romantic. I relate freely with people that I come across, and this has led to friendship and acceptance with many people. At the course of doing this, irreconcilable differences come in sometimes, and the relationship would hit the rock.
Well, I wouldn't be talking about my personal experience today since the prompt is about the worst reason that has made someone end a relationship. My major reason for ending any relationship is what I mentioned earlier. I would like to talk about my friend, James, who was my roommate when we were in the university as undergraduates.
James is a decent and calm older friend and schoolmate. At a time where campus dating was very popular among our peers, James was very committed to the girl that he was dating who was in the village back then. He would always express his love for the girl at every slight opportunity. He had a lofty plan for the lady. He would always tell me how he planned to get married to the girl as soon as he finished his degree.
It got to a point that he introduced me to the girl on the phone. Each time I spoke with the girl on the phone, she expressed her fear that James could jilt her at anytime and go for a university graduate like him. The lady in question was a secondary school leaver. I would assure her that James loved her genuinely. When I am with James, he would also express his fear that the way the village boys were randy, the girl could be convinced otherwise to turn away from the relationship. Both of them were scared to lose each other.
We returned from one of the sessional breaks when James hit me with the unexpected update. He met her girlfriend pregnant when he got to the village. When he asked the girl the reason she chose to betray his trust and cheat on him, the girl said that she was convinced that no university graduate would return to the village and marry a secondary school leaver. According to her, James had a girlfriend on campus.
I was dumbfounded. The reason for the girl's action is the worst that I ever encountered for ending a relationship. This is not a case of catching your boyfriend cheating but an unhealthy and extreme level of insecurity. That was the first time that I witnessed an adult shed painful tears because of heartbreak. James cried. It took me a long time to talk him into leaving the past behind and moving ahead with his life.
The girl got married to the guy that got her pregnant, and they started their family while James rounded up his degree and went for the compulsory one-year national service. The girl's marriage didn't last. She divorced after her first child.
She later tried mending the fence with James, but he blocked it. James later got married to someone else.