I was unprepared for what I found in my sister's bathroom

"It just absolutely broke my heart. You never really know anyone." Please note: sensitive topics

It was the saddest thing I'd seen since my sister's face... in her coffin, at her funeral.

Her bathroom bench covered in makeup items... except, none of it was hers.

It took a moment to adjust to what I was seeing.

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"I felt as though I'd been slapped in the face"

It was only a month after my sister had passed away. I was at her home, spending time with her kids.

I'd always loved my sister's bougie bathroom, and playing with her makeup. But as I walked in, I knew there'd been a change.

Her distinct scent wasn't there. Her lush makeup wasn't lined neatly on her bench. 

Instead, foreign makeup that I'd never seen before was thrown around. So casually... so arrogantly, as though it had a right to be there.

But it didn't. 

I felt as though I'd been slapped in the face.

It was another woman's makeup.

Beauty products strewn as though it was the owner's home. Image: Supplied

My brother-in-law had taken a month (maybe less, who knew?) to make a stranger feel comfortable in my sister's home. In her bathroom.

A stranger my sister didn't know... or did she? 

Was that one of the reasons they fought on the night before her death? Was that BIL of mine having an affair?

It wouldn't have been the first time.

I perched on the bathtub rim, wanting to both scream and vomit as my heart was breaking.

Should I confront him?

Being realistic luckily comes naturally to me, so it didn't take long for me to conclude that it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

If he'd been having an affair. If my sister knew. If some strange woman had acted quickly and nabbed him as a rich widower. 

Nothing had changed. He was always a liar, and always disrespectful of my sister.

My beautiful sister deserved so much better, and he would keep getting away with being a selfish monster.

Yes, none of it mattered.

Because these facts also would not change: my sister wasn't coming back, and she would never be respected in her home in death, as she wasn't in life.

But I still needed some revenge

As I was leaving the room, I couldn't help but be petty.

I unscrewed the lids of her lip glosses and some tacky crap from Sportsgirl. I also pumped about 20 sprays of her offensive scent directly into the toilet bowl, so it was wasted.

It didn't really give me any satisfaction, of course.

But it was the least this intruder deserved, and the least my beautiful sister deserved, too.

Originally published as I was unprepared for what I found in my sister's bathroom