...You might not like Cecily's comments, but on this thread she's making a lot more sense than you, and you have major credibility at FR.
(I don't even know Cecily!)
Whassup with you????
How many meanings could the word have in this case, other than the standard one from Merriem-Webster:
"affair: romantic or passionate attachment typically of limited duration"
Bill O. says they had an affair that lasted for some time. Bill and Lisa were married when the affair started. Bill subsequently got divorced, and ex-mom-in-law started to dish the dirt on him to the press before someone asked her not to continue or she thought better of it. Lisa's marriage went on the rocks, and she was in the process of getting a divorce. How can you draw any conclusion other than these two people were cheating on their spouses and both wrecked their marriages? Beyond that, Lisa became so emotionally unhinged when Bill O. moved on that she attacked another woman and now faces jail and a wrecked career. I very much doubt that all this has happened as the result of a completely innocent, aboveboard friendship or work relationship between Bill O. and Lisa.