My theory is that TS is part of a group of personality disorders called Cluster B. So, she operates on the principle of "splitting." She naturally and intuitively attempts to divide and conquer. When AS decided (or was persuaded) to divorce LH, TS took up his side of things with a vengeance, which at the time felt quite normal to AS. He was upset with LH, TS was even more upset. She kept it going, she stayed on his side.
Eventually, though, AS and TS moved far away and that battle was over. Where does she go next? The thrill of battle (against LH) is pretty much over, and who is the enemy now? Gannon/the kids are. She has to take care of them. Gannon is a loser. It's so hard. She is, IOW, attempting to split AS from the next set of people who care about him (his kids). As a new husband to this new wife, at first AS is sympathetic to her, because she is so smart and hardworking (he doesn't know that she isn't really working or that she's going to lose every job she starts). They establish "firm discipline" for the kids, lots of texting back and forth (a way of connecting for them, when there's almost nothing else to keep them together).
In this manner, TS can unleash her frequent rage attacks on the kids while AS is away. AS basically takes her side, not knowing how crazy the rages are. We've probably all been irritated about something minor and waited until other people are absent to stomp around or mutter or yell. With TS, the rages are massive and daily. She probably waits until AS is gone to let it all out, which is what happened in January.
To put it another way, AS knows (from TS's treatment of LH) just how vicious, angry and bitter TS can be. He's probably a little frightened of her, but can't admit it to himself. He tries to normalize the situation (as most people would) by listening to her vent and commiserating with all her many complaints about the kids. And it's just one thing after another with her, and probably always Gannon as the Problem Child.
When she was arrested, her entire flotilla of psychological bandaids fell apart and she actually attacked a deputy. While she may never admit to harming Gannon, it's obvious that she's capable of physical violence and harm to other humans, against her own self-interest and completely out of control. People like this are fairly rare, she's way out there on the spectrum of so-called "borderline psychosis."
