This is absolutely accurate. When I was a teenager, my mum used to call our house and tell me she was taking her own life and it was all my fault (I would be hysterical and so confused because it would be after we hadn't even spoken for months!) , My Dad would then call my uncle who was a police officer and lived near her, to go and do a welfare check and she would be totally fine and act like she didn't know what he was talking about.She wanted to terrorize him believing that he would be devastated if she left. She was and still is unable to see what a monster she is and that everyone is better off without her.
It was all just for her to feed off my reaction. She never had any intention of hurting herself.
I think this is very much the same. People like this feed of the pain they cause others.
Heartbreaking.