>>534440723
Her stroke was after, the game implies it was partially due to her fighting him all the time in her mind.
He goes on and on about how they were partners, but that was only at first, and he omits the part where eventually he just mind controls her. It's one of his lies by omission that he leaves out when he says he never lies.

But it is the reason why he tries to trick you, instead of just mind controlling you. He already had that not work, and if you had a stroke, or fought off his control and turned against him for it, he would be in trouble. So he did the most logical thing, which was the smoke and mirrors sympathy game.