She asks: “Also, why does my son want to be my romantic partner? This seems very off as well, and perhaps a manipulation.” What can we tell her?

While it is unpleasant to hear this, we can tell you that this is a manipulation and a common one that is employed by the interlopers who encourage overstepping boundaries of all kinds and inappropriate behavior that will cause stress, misunderstandings, and strained relationships because they know it will be distressing and erode happiness and contentment. This is the kind of distortion of thought and feeling needing some deep healing work through divine intervention. In the meantime, a measured response to set limits simply through discouraging it and not cooperating so there is no reward, whether by simply getting attention, seeing he has power over you to upset you, if not get something more pleasant for himself. This will fade in time. It is one of many kinds of distortions of thought that are employed routinely and have taken a toll on society by instilling all kinds of false beliefs and negative perspectives. The answer, as always, is applying healing that will work on meaningful growth and learning towards achieving greater divine alignment. This starts when you are young and must be a lifelong endeavor, not only to reach lofty goals but to stay safe along the way.