I’m struggling to put this into words, but the past few weeks have been incredibly difficult. We’ve been together for nearly two years, and she developed feelings for me quite quickly. At the beginning, I made it clear that while I liked her, I needed time to build a deeper connection. Over time, I opened up more, and we began to share experiences and travel trips, dinners, day trips, hung out, marriage plans, and a proper emotional connection where we were both number 1 for eachother. I have never been too expressive and would rather show things through actions. We did not live together, and I would travel abroad just to see her as we were in Europe and would solely see her for the purpose of it. She even met some of my family, though not as a girlfriend, due to cultural norms that discourage such introductions. It was clear why she was being introduced.
Recently, about six weeks ago, she talked about marriage (as we had many times before), and we were planning to get married by the end of this year or so. But then, within 2 weeks, her attitude shifted dramatically. She began questioning whether she wanted to continue the relationship, expressing doubts about her feelings and our future together. Initially (of the relationship), she had voiced concerns about me not giving her enough attention, or being expressive which I acknowledged. My career sometimes demands that I can’t always be available, but I consistently reassured her that she was my top priority. During our arguments, she would bring up these issues, and we’d resolve them, with her and I having an understanding to move past them. I would believe they were settled because she would stop mentioning them, and we’d act as if everything was fine and our bond would grow stronger, and she would talk of marriage and everything else.
However, now she’s bringing all these old grievances (6-7-8-12 months old) back up, and it feels like we’re rehashing past conflicts that I thought were resolved and she says they are now coming on the surface. She’s mentioned worries about her family’s acceptance (which is a brand new thing) and her own fear that she might not feel the same way about me in the future as she used to. At times, she even suggests ending the relationship but then reconsiders, saying she wants to be with me but is unsure about her feelings. We were considering getting married in just a few months, and I had envisioned our future together (and even she talked of this topic just over a month ago). Her inconsistent stance has left me confused and anxious, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s someone else involved and if I am an option or if her family’s opinions are influencing her this much. Or is she just making up all these reasons and trying to end us swiftly? She gives reasons that I ruined this relationship and her feelings by being less expressive (things of 8 or 9 months old), or not giving her a priority (which I have been, and with all that she has been wanting to marry me until now when even I have resolved all of this as well)
I’ve become quite depressed and isolated, I was focusing solely on our relationship to the detriment of my own well-being and connections with other and friends that I have lost touch with over the past 2 years. I’m at a loss about what she truly wants or whether she’s being honest with me. Is there another person involved? Is it her family’s disapproval? Or is she simply stalling? I need guidance and clarity on how to move forward. I have a few friends, all of whom have their own married/couple lives and would eventually be the only single guy. Dating, at least dating with people we connect well with is not that common in our ethnicity/region and I am at an age where all this is causing me a great strain and all my eggs were in this basket.
TLDR: Most things were fine 5 weeks ago, all this got messed up 3 weeks ago and ever since I have been told a new story and a new reason every now and the