• To deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty.
• To be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling.
• To break (a promise) or be disloyal to (a person’s trust).

It’s hard to think of any untenable situation that didn’t spring first from a betrayal; after all, if a person hadn’t been entrusted with something, they wouldn’t have been positioned to inflict harm. That said, betrayal doesn’t always present itself with the bright line of con artistry or adultery (to name but two); rather, it can also sneak up and capture those who believe they are acting in the right. Following are excellent examples of people facing a betrayal, with perhaps an insight or two as to how they might have averted it (or not, and why…).