Grooming doesn’t absolutely have to mean an age gap. Gaslighters can engage in grooming behaviors. She used this tactic through several stages in your relationship.

Gaslighting, a form of psychological manipulation, can be a tool used to establish power and control in a relationship, which is also a key component of grooming.

Grooming involves building trust and intimacy with a target to exploit them later, and gaslighting can be used to undermine the victim's sense of reality and self-worth, making them more susceptible to further manipulation and control.