Around 15 years ago when I was a student, I had a pretty intense relationship with someone from a culture very different. It was a Middle Eastern culture where arranged marriage is the norm. For various reasons, he couldn't/wouldn't stand up to his parents and their arranged marriage plans, so I broke things off between us. It was heartbreaking at the time as he was the love of my life, he said the same about me.
Met at uni, and he went back to native country after graduation and was engaged within about 3 weeks (entirely predictable, I know). Married very soon after.
Meanwhile I waited a few years before getting married, that failed for unrelated reasons.
About 7 years ago, my Middle Eastern ex (let's called him Ali) emailed me out of the blue saying he was coming back to the UK on a work trip, asked me to meet him but I said no. Out of respect for both his wife, his kids and myself.
He proceeded to send a series of emails about how he's never got over losing me and regrets his marriage blah blah blah. I politely said he needs to do something about it if really that miserable. He has 3 kids now, ranging from early teens to 6.
At that time 7 years ago I asked him to stop living in the past and complaining to me about his marriage, reminded him that his lack of action when he had the chance to stand up for "us" 15 years ago caused me a lot of hurt and pain. So he stopped messaging, presumably to work on his marriage or get some emotional support. I don't know.
Then, last year his email starting coming again so I totally ignored them. Haven't answered a single one since they resumed a year ago. They are full of self-pity and declarations of love, telling me what an idiot he was to let his parents push him into a marriage he didn't want. Blah blah blah. So, obviously still married and no intention of leaving it due to the cultural stigma etc.
In the last few weeks, his emails have started to contain AI (artificial intelligence) created images of all our "special moments" together from 15 years ago... From the scene where we first met (the AI figures are a true likeness to us, and he remembered my exact clothes and shoes from that day), special places we had visited together and so on. Saddest of all the AI images is one that shows "us" aged (to arrange 60) sitting together in each other's arms :( He said he's determined for that to happen one day.
Friends have told me to block him but I feel cruel doing this because he seems to find it therapeutic sending these emails and creating these AI images. I asked him to stop emailing 7years ago so this request wasn't heeded. So even if blocked him, I'm sure he'd just set up new account.
Is there any hope for him being able to move on? Just for context, he's almost 40 and works as a doctor, very affluent from what I can gather. Google searches confirm his whereabouts (no longer living in his home country) and he's on Linkedin. Seems to be doing well for himself professionally but I'm concerned about his frame of mind to be spending so long on these emails and AI images.