I had to restrain myself from picking up my monitor and throwing it out the window. Holy fuck the introduction of Mary only gets more annoying and worse.
Yes I get that the author is using Mary as a tool to bring out the emotions dwelling within the characters, but in my opinion Mary is a fucking awful tool and should just be deleted from existence. There were better ways to bring out the emotions needed to progress the story and characters.
The problem with Mary is she is just bad writing. Introducing a new character to create new situations for your MC's is fine, if it is done natually and the flow is right. Mary is just a one dimensional character who is just a wrecking ball and forces situations. Also judging from her reaction from being shouted at, I say next chapter she is going to feel bad and apologise and all that she has done will be brushed over as she is just a pervert.
I think what you're saying is fair, for me though it felt like the characters were getting closer on their own without any outside "help" (or in this case interference). So it felt frustrating for me that the author would introduce a new character into the mix here instead of focusing on their relationship dynamic, and having the characters properly communicate with each other. Mary was basically a bomb dropped on the situation, one made out of bad writing as you said.
