Yesterday, I saw an ex boyfriend reading a book titled The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the 2008 Financial Crisis. He was talking about Rand's affair with Nathaniel Branden, and he was smearing her, badly. I overheard this, but I did not say anything. I did not stop him. I did not defend my hero from being smeared by a disgusting rat. The words that most closely resemble what was going through my head was: "I couldn't defend you from him." I'm not sure whether "you" meant Ayn Rand or myself. I was disgusted with the fact that a book as horrible as that exists, that purportedly intelligent people read it, and that I had been so horribly wrong in my selection of him as a former partner. My current partner was quick to blame this on the ex-boyfriend's relation to me, but my feelings of guilt would not be alleviated even if he were not an ex.

My questions for Gulcher's are these:
1. Was it right to stay silent in this circumstance?
2. Was this really a "betrayal", as my emotions felt like?
3. What is the best way to fight in situations like these, if at all?

Comments not directly related to my questions are welcome.