The Wrong Woman

Michaela suppressed her anger and stressed each word carefully. "Wanda, you've been away working in the frontier for so long
that you might not realize how disturbing Elio's behavior is. He's Candice's uncle. They're related! Yet he's had an unhealthy
fixation on Candice since her childhood.
"He collected her hair ties, cups, stuffed toys, and other random items. He hoarded her discarded pencil cases and even a used
pen. Whenever he visited Morrison Residence, he secretly took things that belonged to Candice and stashed them away.
"What kind of man obsessively writes diary entries about a young woman? He stole her things, spied on her, stalked her, and
filled his entire sketchbook with drawings of her. He...
"I was desperate and had to pressure him into finding a girlfriend. But then he and Josie deceived me. I had no option but to
make him move abroad. I truly—"
Mila cut her off, her voice sharp with fury. "Mom, why did you read Elio's diary?"
"I did it for his own good," Michaela replied as if it were obvious.
Holding her throbbing forehead, Mila sighed deeply and muttered, "Your kind of 'motherly love' is stifling."
"How else would I have known how serious this was if I hadn't read his diary? Who knows what awful things could've happened if
I hadn't intervened in his twisted behavior sooner?"
Mila was momentarily speechless. After a pause, she spoke sincerely, "Mom, Elio is not like other men. He's reserved and
distant, and he struggles to express his emotions. It's not unusual for him to collect items related to his crush.
"Perhaps he followed her simply because he wanted to protect her or just to be near her often. He never peeked at her in the
shower or stole anything deeply personal like her underwear. How can you label his behavior as twisted?"
Steadfast in her conservative views, Michaela objected. "Candice calls him uncle Doesn't he realize what that implies about his
place in our family? If such behaviors aren't considered twisted, what would be? Does he need to engage in actual incest for us
to call it that?
Mila saw things differently. She believed that as long as there was no blood relation and their relationship was legally allowed,
there was no reason they couldn't be together. To her, any other concerns were minor.

On the other hand, Michaela held traditional values dear and placed great importance on the family hierarchy She felt that
pursuing such a relationship was not only morally wrong but would also harm the relationships between their families.
The debate raged on in the living room, with the duo adamantly defending their viewpoints.
Elio locked his bedroom door and slumped against the wall. He stretched one leg out and bent the other, resting his arm wearily
on his knee. His gaze was empty as he stared at the remains of the portrait that Michaela had destroyed.
He had devoted half a month to creating a portrait of Candice, meticulously writing her name tens of thousands of times in
various sizes to form her image. Now, it lay in ruins.
The loss of the portrait wouldn't have been so crushing if Candice were willing to be in a relationship with him But with the portrait
destroyed and Candice's clear disinterest in him, he felt like the sky had come crashing down on him. Yet he had to continue
clinging to the fragments of his composure.