Sometimes the narcissist really believes what they’re saying— my narcissist was so very smart and so very persuasive that sometimes I doubted the meaning of what I experienced. It was worse for the people who didn’t live with us and saw only a small part of what went on—they were quicker to accept her view of things. Those who knew us well were either squeezed out of our lives (my family) or threatened and bullied until they just gave up and went along with whatever she said (her mom, dad, sister). Everyone rlse was on that continuum somewhere. I’m still not sure whether my ex-wife was doing all of this according to a master plan or whether it was all just what narcissists do subconsciously. But the thing is, there were still people (friends, family, colleagues) who realized what was going on and did what they could to help. And I think that for every flying monkey there are more who are good and wise and do the right thing. So let go of the flying monkeys and concentrate on the supportive people.