🌸 Me Before You – A Love Story
Background Knowledge
William Carter: 29, ambitious finance executive in London. Grew up in a middle-class family, worked hard to escape mediocrity. Believes in success, money, and moving fast in life. His motto: "Me before you — always."
Elizabeth Hart: 27, art teacher at a small community school. Comes from a modest family of artists and musicians. Believes life's beauty is found in small kindnesses, not big achievements. Loves painting, books, and the smell of rain. Secret: she suffers from a congenital heart condition.
The story is set mostly in London — with moments in Cornwall, the Lake District, and the seaside, capturing both the rush of the city and the calm of nature.
--- The Rainy Beginning
London's rain was relentless, turning pavements into rivers and umbrellas into useless props. William Carter hated it. His weekend was ruined, his meeting postponed, and now his suit — Armani, no less — was drenched. Muttering curses, he sprinted toward the nearest doorway, which happened to be the Bloomsbury Library, a place he'd never once stepped inside.
The silence inside was soothing, the air scented with old paper and wood polish. William shook out his coat and wandered aimlessly. Numbers and deals ruled his life; books had long been forgotten companions.
And then he saw her.
Elizabeth Hart. A young woman in a rain-damp coat, hair falling in loose chestnut waves, completely absorbed in a book. She wasn't extraordinary in the way magazines defined beauty, but something about her presence pulled him in.
Drawn by curiosity, William reached for a title that caught his eye: The Art of Being Human. At that same moment, her hand touched the spine too. Their fingers brushed, light as electricity.
"Sorry," he said quickly.
She smiled, and it was as if the rain outside softened. "It's fine. You take it. I've read it before."
Her voice was gentle, almost musical. William lingered longer than necessary. "You read philosophy?"
"Among other things. And you?"
He gave a half-shrug. "I'm more of a finance guy. Numbers, markets. Not exactly… this."
Elizabeth tilted her head, studying him with quiet amusement. "Then perhaps you're in the right place after all. Books can remind you what numbers can't."
William chuckled, embarrassed yet oddly captivated. Outside, the storm raged. Inside, something new — delicate but undeniable — had begun.
--- – Two Different Worlds
Over the next week, William found himself returning to the library — not for books, but for her. Elizabeth Hart was unlike anyone he knew.
She taught art at a small community school. Her salary was modest, her life simple, yet she spoke of her work with the kind of passion William only ever used for promotions and investments.
Over coffee at a café near Covent Garden, he asked, "Why teach children? You could sell your art, work in a gallery, make a proper career out of it."
Elizabeth laughed softly, stirring her tea. "Because those children need colour in their lives. Rich collectors don't. Isn't that a better use of my time?"
William blinked. He'd never heard anyone dismiss ambition so casually. For him, life was a ladder. For her, it was a garden.
Still, he found himself drawn to her world. Her laugh, her calm, the way she found beauty in things he considered ordinary. She teased him once when he checked his emails during dinner. "You'll miss life if you keep staring at glowing screens," she said.
And strangely, he wanted to put the phone away.
-- – Small Moments of Love
Their friendship deepened, and soon it was more than friendship. Walks in Hyde Park, quiet evenings by the Thames, nights of endless conversation.
Elizabeth loved small details. At a flower stall one evening, she picked up marigolds and held them against her cheek. "Aren't they wonderful? Like tiny suns. Proof that happiness doesn't need grandeur."
William smiled despite himself. He'd never thought about flowers before. Yet now, he wanted to see them the way she did.
One night, as they sat by the river, he confessed, "I've always been 'me before you.' My work, my plans, my dreams — all about me. But with you… I feel different. Like maybe I'm not the centre anymore. And I like that."
Elizabeth's hand brushed his. Her smile was quiet, almost sad, but she said nothing.
For William, silence had never been so comforting.
- – Shadows
Yet, something about Elizabeth puzzled him.
She sometimes grew distant, pale after long days, her laughter hiding shadows. When William spoke about his future plans — the transfer to New York, the higher salary, the bigger office — she fell silent.
"You'll come with me, of course," he teased once.
Elizabeth's gaze lingered on the horizon. "Not all journeys are meant for everyone, Will."
He frowned, but she quickly changed the subject, asking about his childhood. He let it go, but unease began to grow.
--- – The Truth Revealed
The truth came like lightning.
One December evening, William arrived at Elizabeth's flat with flowers, determined to confess his love. Instead, he found her collapsed on the floor. Panic ripped through him as he carried her to the hospital.
Hours later, the doctor's words shattered his world. "Miss Hart has a congenital heart condition. It's advanced. There is no cure. We can only make her comfortable."
William's chest tightened. When he confronted Elizabeth, tears burned his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Her face was pale, but her voice steady. "Because I didn't want to be your tragedy. I wanted to be your love story. Even if it was short."
He held her hand, trembling. "Don't talk like it's over. We'll fight this. I'll take you anywhere, find the best doctors—"
Elizabeth touched his cheek, her eyes shining with a strange calm. "No, Will. Some battles can't be won. The victory is in how beautifully we live, not how long."
--- – Borrowed Time
The months that followed were fragile miracles.
William abandoned meetings, promotions, everything. His world became Elizabeth. They travelled when she was strong enough — the cliffs of Cornwall, the Lake District, the seaside she loved.
He memorised her — the way she sketched on napkins, the way she closed her eyes when the wind touched her face, the way she whispered thank you for every small kindness.
One night, under a starlit sky, Elizabeth lay with her head on his chest. "Promise me something," she said softly.
"Anything."
"When I'm gone, don't stop living. You were always 'me before you.' Don't lose that fire, Will. Just… carry me in it."
Tears slipped down his cheek, but he nodded.
- – The Last Goodbye
Spring returned, but Elizabeth was fading.
On her final day, William sat by her bedside, her fragile hand in his. She looked at him with a faint smile. "Do you remember the library? You hated the rain."
He choked out a laugh. "Yes."
"I loved it. Because it brought you to me."
Her hand loosened in his, and silence fell.
Weeks later, William wandered back to the library. On the same shelf, he found The Art of Being Human. Inside the cover, in Elizabeth's handwriting, were words that broke and healed him all at once:
"Life is not me before you, nor you before me. It's us — even if us lasts only a moment. – E."
William closed the book gently, tears falling. For the first time since she left, he smiled. Because she hadn't left him empty. She had left him changed.
---
🌹 Epilogue
William Carter, the man who once lived only for ambition, carried Elizabeth's love like a compass. He was still "me," but never without "her" quietly beside him, shaping every choice, every kindness, every marigold he stopped to notice.....