The day of my divorce mediation (six months ago), I was a bundle of nerves. I anticipated a big waste of time. I had to drive six hours that day, three hours there and back with my Dad, my rock. When I walked into the door, I had little to no expectations. I figured that my narcissist would want to draw out our divorce as long as humanly possible. I could not have been prepared for what was about to happen. We never saw each other at the mediation, we were in separate rooms the whole time. So, I never even caught a glimpse of him, which I was thankful for. In that room, my attorney explained that if we did not come to an agreement and wanted to let a judge decide our marital asset split, that it could be six months till we even got a court date! That was a scary thought for me because I was anxious to end this and move on with my life. I was exhausted of the unknown, I was terrified of what the narcissist had up his sleeve. Up till that point, he would threaten to call his attorney over the smallest detail, thus racking up MY attorney fees that I was responsible for paying for.
To my surprise, we reached an agreement that day. It was not what I felt was totally fair, but I was thankful to get it over with, plus I was going to be getting something from the mediation, which is better than nothing. I contemplated at the signing of our settlement agreement…why? Why is he coming to any agreement when he said that he wanted to go to court at one point after I filed for divorce? I thought that maybe the reason he was unusually agreeable was because he wanted to marry his Ukrainian live in au pair/girlfriend. Maybe that was it? I thought I may have some bargaining power because of that possibility.
Anyways, the moment the papers were signed, my attorney said I should leave first and my ex would be cued to leave after I had gotten to my car. So we would not have to undergo the hurtful, awkward moments of the end of our relationship when it was still raw. So, when dad and I got to my car, we drove away and my heart was racing because I really did not want to accidentally run into my narcissist. Then when the coast was clear, we had a very long drive back home. My Dad and I sat in silence for the most of the ride.
The past 5 hours of the mediation were echoing through my mind. Then I had a vision of my ex, walking out of the mediation building, alone… to his car. I pictured him, driving alone…back to his house, feeling defeated and depleted. I remember feeling overwhelming guilt and shame at that moment. I felt terrible that our relationship had come to this. I felt that even though he was a horrible husband, and abusive in many ways, I felt terrible that my leaving him would cause him any hurt or pain. I felt responsible at that moment for any distress and I couldn’t help but to burst into tears. I never want anyone that I care for or use to care for to suffer, even if they do bring it on themselves. I can’t explain it any other way than that I am an empath.
However, I did not know it yet, but the reality of the situation was so far left of anything that I could have pictured. Because five months later, I find out that at that time, end of December 2016, my narcissist went home to his two months pregnant girlfriend, happy that he stuck it to me.
So, in reality, I was wasting more of my time feeling sorry for my narcissist ex-husband. I was making the common mistake of thinking that he had any human-like emotion. Here I was feeling bad that he was sad and alone, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. One of my work colleges made the comment about my ex in saying that, “He has plenty of empathy…for himself.” That is so true. Narcissists care only about themselves, the fact that we empaths ever put them first is the biggest mistake of all.
We must remember that narcissists are not normal, they are hardwired to look out for number one, they don’t care about you. My narcissist left the mediation happy, he was thrilled because he already had secured his next victim, the 25 year old Ukrainian that he had knocked up in order to trap her so she can serve up his narcissistic supply. Knowing all of this now makes me sad, not because he did this, but that I feel bad for ever feeling bad about leaving him in the first place.
leave your narcissist 
Narcissists think that their quality is good which is the problem with them I never married my narcissistic sociopath but share a child with him he causes me pain everyday and thrives on it he eggs me on to hope I’ll pull our now 13 year old into it but I WIL NECER- I act as if he’s a wonderful father and he is a good father but horrible father because he doesn’t wish to foster a positive environment between our son, he wishes my death, he feels my being his biological mother has hurt him because I wasn’t his prize choice which is why he detests me, well that and knowing him so well I could write a book about him an actual manual, he’s a pathelogical liar, has not a shred of loyalty or empathy, is a parental alienator of the highest caliber but I know in the end that kharma will strike him down if he doesn’t do the damage to himself first. But Narcissists are never without a back up plan or 2 and we DO FEEL awful for them at one point. I know I still worry about his psyche when he could care less if I were to live or die. They will never put all their eggs in one basket, but are quite the showstoppers. Actors and performers in their every move and well thought out plan to devise their best asset which is their Reputation. So they are slimy and underhanded and yet smart enough to grab you emotionally and mind f–k you like no other. That’s their pleasure. But they get to big in their britches and if you join them in their performance charade and act as if you are no longer a threat to their perfect armour of a reputation, they’ll eventually write you off as they’ve done in so many different ways. That’s when ladies it’s our time to get ours back and I’m not speaking revenge, I’m speaking all they’ve stolen from us emotionally, literally, stolen items, relationships because they are such narcissists they do have a flaw-the mask becomes heavy as they do endure stress like any other, but the way they handle is quite different, as if they are some sort of rare creature, rxternal and internal stressors do not mix well because it’s kryptonite to them as they are more vulnerable when dealing with stress. That’s my say I so can feel how you felt your day of leaving mediation with a brief relief before your grief for a person who was already celebrating and onto the next victim. Sad but true. Good share. Nice to know I’m not the only one.
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Thank you for sharing some of your story! I wish you the best. Continue to be strong!
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