Young and naive story ahead so I apologise for any anger it might cause, cos I certainly get angry every time I think about it. First job after I finished univ

Young and naive story ahead so I apologise for any anger it might cause, cos I certainly get angry every time I think about it. First job after I finished university, and I joined a start up that looked relatively promising. It was my first my second corporate job, though the first was a terrible year in industry as part of my studies. Leadership gave lots of promises (not just to me) about the company and all, and honestly, I'm pretty sure in the early days much of it was okay to promise. I started on a relatively low salary. Got no options. Moved up the ladder, and got some options. It wasn't a lot, so I didn't think much of it. Heck, here in London, the stock options game for start ups is nowhere near as strong as the US (mind you, I didn't know about this back then either). I was never told about a strike price. I never read the options contract. Lots of mistakes on my part. About a year and a half after I joined, I got a sizeable pay increase because I suppose I had shown my worth maybe? I dunno. Right around that time, structure changed a little bit. I made the mistake of not checking my pay cheque to validate I had been given my pay rise. For about 6 months I hadn't been given my new pay. I raise it with the relevant people. Because we had hired someone new, and they couldn't find the new contract I'd signed (???), the new person had to go to the CEO to double check. That took another 2 months (don't ask me why). So I had about 8 months of the pay increase difference not paid, about ~£12k. They get back to me telling me they've confirmed that I was given the pay rise, but they won't be able to pay it in cash, and instead have to pay it in stock options. Without challenging it, I accepted, because I did believe the company would grow. Fast forward another 1.5-2 years, and I realise the company is a sinking ship, or if not, it's just drifting aimlessly. So I leave. I hand in my notice. Over the next week or so I have meetings with plenty of people to persuade me to stay with all the promises (not even a promise of a pay rise). I'm not persuaded, so our CEO straight up tells me I will lose my stock options if I leave. Didn't even get possibility get my money back. Nothing. 7/8 years later, the company is still drifting. Many aren't paid in full, or on time. It may have been a bunch of costly naive mistakes on my part, but from what I'm hearing it would have cost me more if I'd stayed. Moral of the story: you should double and triple check your contract, whether you're young or not.