Is this emotional cheating, or am I ignoring too many red flags?

I am 25 years old, and my boyfriend is also 25.
I recently got back together with my ex-boyfriend, and I genuinely wanted to rebuild our relationship and trust him again. I believed we could leave the past behind and create something healthier. However, I discovered things that made me question whether I can trust him at all.
After we got back together, I found out that he was still communicating with a woman he had previously been involved with. This was someone I already knew, and someone he had spoken negatively about before. After our breakup, he continued seeing her for around six months. He says nothing happened between them, but the situation still hurt my trust.
What made it even more painful was that after we reconciled, while I was still in his life, he continued sending her messages. When I asked him if he was still in contact with her, he told me no. Later, I discovered that this was not true. After I left his side, he talked to her about a TV series that we used to watch together and told her that the show made him think of her. He says he didn’t have feelings for her and that he only didn’t want her to forget him or wanted to stay on her mind. However, for me, wanting another woman’s attention and trying to remain in her thoughts while we were rebuilding our relationship was deeply hurtful and disrespectful.
Another thing that affected me was that during the time he was seeing this woman after our breakup, he sold the car he was using and sent her the photos of the sale. He told me that he wanted her to see it and that he wanted to hurt her feelings or make her react. To me, this showed that he was still emotionally invested in her reactions and in maintaining some kind of connection with her, even if he says there was nothing romantic between them.
I also found conversations with another woman who works as a hostess in a nightclub. He used affectionate names with her, shared his location late at night, and had a level of closeness that made me uncomfortable. He invited her to visit him and offered to pick her up. When I asked him whether this woman had come to see him, he told me no. Later, I discovered information that made me question whether he had been honest with me. He says that these conversations meant absolutely nothing to him, that there was no emotional or romantic interest, and that it was just meaningless communication. However, the problem is that his actions did not match what he told me. At the same time, he had told me that he was only there for work, which made the situation even harder for me to understand and trust.
What hurt me the most was not only what I discovered, but also that when I asked direct questions, I did not always receive honest answers. When I confronted him, he focused more on the fact that I looked through his phone rather than helping me understand why these things happened. After that, he became distant, gave short replies, stopped sharing his location, and even blocked me.
He tells me that throughout his life he has always enjoyed the chase, that he usually loses interest after getting someone, but that I am different. He says he has never loved anyone like he loves me and that he could never leave me. The problem is that his words and his actions do not seem to match.
I don’t know if this is emotional cheating, but I do know that these behaviors and the lack of honesty damaged my trust. I was already trying to forgive the past, rebuild our relationship, and believe in him again. Discovering these things made me question whether I am ignoring too many red flags and whether this relationship is truly healthy for me.