Wright did not write the topic on the board until everyone was seated.
When he did, the chalk snapped.
INFIDELITY: TRUTH, PERFORMANCE, AND THE MORAL LIE
The room quieted.
I felt it immediately—the shift. The way something sharp slid beneath my skin.
“Infidelity,” Wright began evenly, “is often misunderstood.”
He turned, eyes scanning the room, then—without apology—settling on me.
“Most people imagine it as a simple betrayal. A body in the wrong bed. A hand where it doesn’t belong.”
A pause.
“But literature is rarely interested in the obvious.”
He clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace.
“Let’s consider a more complicated scenario,” he said. “One involving performance.”
My pulse thundered.
“Imagine,” he continued, “a woman who presents herself publicly as devoted. F
