My story

My [24F] cousin/ex-partner [26M] left me after 8 years of love and sacrifice the moment his life improved. Is his sister's behavior normal?

I am a Palestinian girl \[24F\], and for 8 long years, I was in a deep, committed relationship with my cousin \[26M\] (he is both my maternal and paternal cousin), who lives in Amman, Jordan.

Throughout those years, my family strongly opposed our relationship. They were terrified of me moving abroad and used genetic compatibility issues as an excuse. On the other side, he and his family blamed my parents for everything. I fought my own family for years for his sake. I stood by him during his darkest times when he was working as a delivery driver for "Talabat," struggling heavily under the burden of car loans and financial pressure.

After years of fighting, my parents finally relented and agreed to the marriage just for my happiness. But to my absolute shock, the tables turned. Suddenly, his family rejected me! They claimed his financial situation was unstable—and they even brought up the genetic compatibility excuse. Even then, I chose to be patient and stayed with him, hoping things would get better.

Two months later, he delivered the biggest shock of my life. He told me he didn’t want to continue. He had left his delivery job and started working at a cafe in Amman, opening his eyes to a new lifestyle. I was so devastated that I found myself begging and crying, but he began falsely accusing me of "threatening him with other suitors"—even though I was only trying to prove my loyalty to him against my family's wishes. He started speaking to me in the most hurtful way possible. In March, he arrogantly told me: "My financial situation is great now. I was buried alive before, and my true life and happiness only started when I joined this cafe!"

In April, I confronted him and begged him by God to tell me if another girl had entered his life. He replied with cold cruelty: "I would be a fool to repeat the same mistake twice" (meaning our 8-year relationship and my sacrifices). He then mocked me, saying: "Where are the long lines of suitors who supposedly wanted you? Or does nobody look at you anymore?" After that, I completely disappeared and cut contact for 69 days to preserve my remaining dignity.

When I recently contacted him one last time to ask him to delete photos and private details of me, he stubbornly demanded to know why first, then taunted me again: "Why haven't you gotten engaged yet? Didn't you claim there were plenty of men?"

The drama didn't end there. His sister called my mother just to flaunt and hurt us. She claimed her brother was now interested in a wealthy, spoiled girl who drives a Jeep, but that his father refused the match until he finishes renovating his apartment so he can propose on solid ground. Because I am in touch with his aunt, his sister went to ask her if I had mentioned anything. When the aunt replied that I hadn't said a word, the sister quickly backtracked to her, claiming: "I only told her mother that story for the girl's own good, so she moves on with her life and doesn't hold onto hope."

Later, my cousin reached out to test the waters and mentioned hearing rumors about his engagement. He casually replied: "My parents want me to get engaged to settle me down, but I'm running away from them."

I really need your opinion on this:

What do you think of his behavior and the way he turned on me?

Is his sister’s behavior normal, or was it a malicious attempt to break my spirit?

How can I overcome this pain? I feel like I am dying a thousand deaths every single day from the sheer injustice and heartbreak.

TL;DR: I \[24F\] sacrificed 8 years for my cousin \[26M\], standing by him when he was broke. Once he got a better job, he left me cruelly. Now his sister is calling my mom to brag about him finding a rich girl, then lying that she did it for my "own good." How do I overcome this pain?