138 Mothers Alliance

Richmond clenched his jaws, his lethal gaze brimming with a mixture of undiluted rage and filial love.

"Have you seen the news," Carol demanded, hands akimbo. "Do you have any idea of how our family name is being dragged through the mud because of yesterday's scandal? Do you have the slightest idea of what you are making Jasmine go through? That girl loves you with all of her heart? She would do anything for you? She's ready to make you a happy man. Why won't you let her? You are a Gibson for crying out loud. What do you find intriguing about that...that ... riff rat."

"Love, Mum!" Richmond said confidently defying every moral and principle Carol stood for. "I found love in her, Mum. I fell in love with her the same way Dad fell in love with you."

"Don't you ever..." Carol shrieked, wagging her finger threateningly at Richmond. "....compare what your dad and I share with that miserable filth."