Sister-in-Law Disrespects Our Mom’s Memory—You Won’t Believe How Karma Hit Her on Christmas!

Everyone was preparing to come over to my house for Christmas dinner this year, but a few days before, my brother and his wife suddenly showed up, asking if they could stay. Though their visit was unexpected, I didn’t mind much, but my sister-in-law quickly pushed me to my limits with her unbelievable behavior!

A week before Christmas, my brother Ryan and his wife, Lindsey, arrived at our door, looking cold and frazzled. Their heating system had broken down, and their house had become unlivable because of the cold. Despite my initial hesitation, my husband, Nathan, and I welcomed them, not knowing what a disaster was coming.

“Thanks for letting us stay here,” Ryan said, dropping their bags in the hallway. “We might be here for a while because we can’t find an electrician over the holidays, but we’ll keep trying.”

“It’s no problem,” Nathan said, always kind. “Make yourselves at home.”

At first, things were fine. But by the third day, my sister-in-law’s actions were starting to annoy me.

She took over our master bathroom, leaving towels and toiletries everywhere, even though she had full access to the guest bedroom bathroom. Worse, I noticed some of my sweaters and clothes had mysteriously ended up in her suitcase without her asking!

I didn’t want to start an argument, but I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Still, none of this compared to what I discovered on Christmas Eve morning.

We were having breakfast when I noticed something strange. The mantel in the living room, which had been decorated with garlands and stockings, looked empty. My heart dropped.

“Has anyone seen Mom?” I asked, my voice trembling. I was talking about the black marble vase that held my mother’s ashes, which we had placed there to fulfill her wish to “spend” Christmas with us.

This was supposed to be our first Christmas without Mom, who had passed away after a short battle with cancer. On her deathbed, she made us promise to keep her ashes with us in the room where we celebrated Christmas, so she could “be with us one last time.”

After the holiday, my brother and I were supposed to scatter her ashes at her favorite spot—the local river where she and our late father had gone on their first date. But now… she was gone.

Lindsey looked up from her plate and shrugged casually. “You mean her ashes? I threw them out in the backyard. That vase scared me every time I saw it!”

The room went silent, and time seemed to stand still as her words hit me.

“You did what?!” I finally managed to say, my voice rising.

“I threw them out,” she repeated, like it was no big deal. “Relax, it’s just ashes. Why are you all so dramatic?”

Anger surged inside me, and without thinking, I stood up, ready to confront her. Nathan and Ryan jumped in between us, trying to hold me back!

“You had no right!” I yelled, tears streaming down my face. “Mom had one wish, and you—how could you do this?!”

Lindsey rolled her eyes. “It’s not like she’s going to know!” she replied, dismissively.

Her indifference was like a slap to the face! Shaking with anger, I stormed out to the backyard, praying it wasn’t too late.

I spent the next hour searching through the grass and the trash, but there was nothing left to salvage. My mother’s ashes, her memory, were gone.

That night, I stayed up, seething with rage! I wanted to kick Lindsey out immediately, but Ryan’s pleading look stopped me.

“Please wait until after Christmas,” he whispered. “We have nowhere else to go.”

Reluctantly, I agreed, though I wasn’t sure how I would manage the next 24 hours without exploding!

Around midnight, a loud scream shattered the silence! Nathan and I shot up, exchanging worried looks before rushing upstairs. The smell hit us first—a horrible, stomach-turning stench.

“What in the world?” my husband muttered as we ran to the room. We burst in to find Lindsey standing on the bed, holding her hair and screaming in terror!

The carpet, her clothes, and some of mine were soaked with murky water, and a horrible mess was leaking from the bathroom!

“Oh my God!” Lindsey screamed. “It’s everywhere! Do something!”

Nathan tried to keep a straight face but I could see him holding back laughter. “Looks like the toilet backed up,” he said.

“Why is it only this room?” I teased. “The guest bathroom is fine, and ours is working perfectly!”

“Must be some Christmas miracle,” Nathan joked, earning a glare from my furious sister-in-law!

Ryan was crouched by the bathroom door, frantically trying to mop up the mess. “Honey, maybe we should—”

“Don’t you dare ‘honey’ me!” Lindsey snapped. “Do something useful!”

I couldn’t resist making a dig. “Maybe this is karma,” I said, leaning against the doorframe. “You know, for what you did to Mom. This could be her revenge—she did have a wicked sense of humor.”

Lindsey shot me a murderous look! “This is your house! Your plumbing! Fix it!”

Nathan stepped in before I could say anything else. “We’ll call a plumber first thing in the morning,” he said calmly. “In the meantime, maybe you should sleep in the guest room after cleaning up.”

“Do you think that was a sign from Mom?” I whispered to Nathan as Lindsey continued to cry and try to clean the mess. “If not, it sure feels like one.”

My sister-in-law looked like she was about to explode, but Ryan gently guided her out of the room.

As they passed me, I overheard Lindsey muttering that it wasn’t her fault. I rolled my eyes and went back to bed, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.

The next morning, my brother explained that the toilet backed up when Lindsey decided to use it. He’d been asleep and woke up to her screaming as she slipped in the mess while trying to jump onto the bed!

We couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Lindsey slipping in the disgusting muck, and even Ryan joined in!

Sadly, her bad luck didn’t end there. The plumber couldn’t come until the day after Christmas, so we spent the holiday with the lingering smell of sewage in the air.

At Christmas dinner with the rest of the family, Lindsey was unusually quiet. She barely touched her food while everyone else laughed and shared stories.

At one point, Ryan pulled me aside. “Thanks for not kicking us out,” he said awkwardly. “I know Lindsey can be… difficult.”

“Difficult?” I raised an eyebrow. “She threw away Mom’s ashes!”

“I know,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry.”

For a moment, I thought about telling him to pack up and leave, but then I looked at Lindsey. She was sitting stiffly at the table, her face pale and nervous, as though expecting more bad luck.

“Maybe this is punishment enough,” I said finally, and Ryan nodded, relieved.

The rest of the night passed quietly. My sister-in-law avoided me like the plague, and when she tried to complain to the family, they sided with me without hesitation!

“You threw away their mother’s ashes?” my aunt gasped. “What were you thinking?!”

By the end of the night, Lindsey was thoroughly embarrassed, and I felt a sense of poetic justice.

As Nathan and I cleaned up after everyone left, he grinned at me. “You think Mom was with us today, even though Lindsey spilled it all out?”

I laughed. “If she was, it sure feels like it, and I really hope so!”

Nathan put his arm around me and kissed my head. “Well, either way, Lindsey got what she deserved.”

I nodded, feeling lighter. Mom may not have been with us the way we planned, but in that moment, I felt her presence more than ever.