Before (The After Series, Book 5), by Anna Todd, Grace Grant, Jason Carpenter | Free Audiobook

Every villain has an origin story

In Before, Anna Todd with Grace Grant and Jason Carpenter take you inside the mind of Hardin Scott before Tessa Young ever walked into his life. This is the story of the broken boy who became the man readers love and hate in equal measure. You see the experiences that built his walls, the betrayals that taught him cruelty, and the loneliness that made him lash out at anyone who got too close.

The first section explores Hardin's college years before the bet, showing his relationships with Molly, Steph, and others who orbited his destructive lifestyle. Then the narrative shifts to retelling the events of the original After series entirely from Hardin's perspective. Every fight, every tender moment, every lie takes on new meaning when filtered through his damaged worldview. You finally understand why he sabotaged the one real thing he ever had and what it cost him to watch Tessa walk away over and over.

Shane East delivers a raw, intimate performance that captures Hardin's internal war between the person he is and the person he wants to be for Tessa. This audiobook fills in every gap, answers the questions that haunted readers, and shows that the cruelest actions often come from the deepest pain. Before is essential listening for anyone who needs to understand the whole truth behind the After phenomenon.