Help me decide CVT vs Manual !

We live in the San Fransisco, CA and wife and I learnt driving stick in India ! I am ready to get a CVT for her to have fun but not sure if I am missing out on something by not getting a Manual . Wife is ready to drive beater Camry and wants me to get the car I like but AITA if I do that ?

Edit : Test drove manual today and clutch feels very hard . My background is driving manual cars in India so not sure if it meant to be?

Edit 2: Decided to get a relatively lesser used manual (2022+ Limited) while I spend the remaining money to get my wife the car she wants. In that context, lmk if someone has a lead for 2022+ limited (preferably MGM) in the bay area / phoenix