Which Manga Protagonists Handle Heartbreak With Growth Arcs?

On my wedding day, my husband abandoned me to marry his childhood sweetheart, while I was tortured to death. *** Yeah. That was how my first life ended, pathetic. Wasn't it? I was the perfect fiancée: quiet, obedient, hopelessly in love with a man who never loved me back. For three years, I erased myself to become Adrian Whitmore's first love, Isabella Clarke, the woman he truly loved. I cooked for him, fought for him, and even gave up my father's company for him. And what did I get in return? Betrayal. Humiliation. Death. But heaven gave me another chance. I wake up three years earlier, at our engagement party. The same party where Adrian threw our rings into the pool and I—desperate and pathetic—dove in to retrieve them. Not this time. This time, I throw the rings back in his face. I expose his secrets, reclaim my father's empire, and walk away from the man who never deserved me. But Adrian isn't ready to let go. The obedient woman who worshipped him is gone, replaced by someone he can't control or predict. For the first time in his arrogant life, he wants what he can't have—me. Too bad I'm done being anyone's second choice. With a sweet billionaire offering genuine devotion and a dangerous mafia boss promising absolute protection, I finally have options. Meanwhile, Adrian watches helplessly as I become everything he never let me be. In my first life, I died for love. In my second life, everyone who hurt me will pay.

Elina thought she had hit rock bottom. She lost her job. Her therapy session dredged up memories of the ex-boyfriend who stalked and traumatized her. The only thing she had left to look forward to was the finale of her favorite fantasy series, Moonbound Faith. Then the show ended. The heroes won. The villain died. Everyone got their happily-ever-after. That same night, a knock at her door shatters what little peace she has left. Her ex is standing outside. The man who was supposed to be in prison. Forced to flee into a storm, Elina runs until she reaches the edge of a cliff with nowhere left to go. Faced with a choice between death and returning to the man who destroyed her life, she jumps. But instead of dying, she wakes up inside Moonbound Faith. Not as the heroine. Not as a side character. But as Luna—the infamous villainess whose tragic death she celebrated only hours before. Determined to survive, Elina plans to use her knowledge of the story to change her fate. But everything she thought she knew begins to unravel when a small boy tugs on her sleeve and calls her one word: “Mom.” The original story never mentioned a child. And when Elina uncovers the truth behind his existence, she realizes something terrifying. The villainess was never the villain. The story lied. And the ending she remembers may not be the ending waiting for her at all.

After his first love died, Oscar hated me for ten years. I tried everything to soften him. Nothing worked. "If you really want to please me, go die." The words cut deep. But when the riot came, he threw himself in front of me and was hacked down where he stood. He stared at me as he bled out. "If only… my fated mate hadn't been you." At his funeral, his parents wept. "We should have let him be with Catherine. We forced him to marry her, all because of that damn prophecy." Windvale Pack lived by prophecy. Years ago, the Seer had foretold that if Oscar didn't take his fated mate as his bond-mate, disaster would fall on the pack. I was that fated mate. But now, everyone wished I never had been. Even me. I was driven from the funeral, hollow. Then the Moon Goddess descended. She offered me a chance—ten years back—on two conditions. I would not become Oscar's mate. I would prevent Catherine's death. I said yes without thinking.

He was a bad boy swimmer while she was an innocent aspiring chef. She broke his heart and he was left wondering why. She was his world and life - his everything. She successfully changed him to become better, but when they were already doing well, she suddenly betrayed him. Worse, it was with a friend he knew too well. But no matter the reason, he will never accept it. He would rather die than completely break free from her. Feeling betrayed and broken, the famous bad boy emerged once more, deciding to claim his possession back. She has been his and forever she shall be. The bad boy's heart is broken and only she can mend it.

After transmigrating into a novel, I realized the heroine and I had the exact same name. Naturally, I thought I had transmigrated into the female lead. So I marched straight to the man who was still a broke nobody at the time, threw all caution to the wind, and pounced on him like I had plot armor protecting me. He even glared at me with red eyes and told me he hated me. I honestly thought he was just into the whole push-and-pull thing. Everything shattered when the real heroine showed up and I finally understood one thing. He actually hated me. Heartbroken, I packed my bags and got ready to disappear. The next second, he pinned me against the wall. "Where are you going? Already bored of me, sweetheart?"

When my husband learns of his first love's death, he jumps from the cruise ship where we are spending our honeymoon, ending his life. Only then do I realize he has never gotten over Clara Levine. Reborn back to his teenage years, he resolutely lets go of my hand and walks toward his first love. I watch them leave together, then turn and walk away. From that moment on, our lives become nothing more than two parallel lines that will never meet. Ten years later, we run into each other at a banquet in Oceanus City. He has become a rising star among the elite, with Clara appearing on his arm, intimately holding onto him. When he sees me accidentally wander into the banquet, he can't help but give me advice. "Stop obsessing over me. Even if you wait for me for ten years, I still won't fall in love with you." I ignore him and pull my son out from the corner where he's sneaking cake. His eyes suddenly turn bloodshot as he grabs my hand tightly. "How dare you try to make me jealous on purpose? Didn't you say you would only love me for your entire life?" he says.