We often assume that our family members will be there for us and earn our trust, but Dorothy’s experience was painful and shocking. She and her husband invited his 20-year-old sister to live with them and asked her to babysit their two children. Unfortunately, everything went wrong, and the sister-in-law shattered their trust in the worst way imaginable.

This is Dorothy’s letter:

We invited my husband’s sister, who is 20, to move in with us for free, as she had just started a new job and lived far away. All we asked was that she babysit our 2-year-old twin boys on weekend nights so we could have some time out.

She immediately responded, “I have a life too! If I’m going to sacrifice my time, I need cash!” I refused to pay her, and she had no choice but to accept it. Things went smoothly for a few months.

Then, one Sunday night, we came home to an awful sight. She was crying, and our apartment was in complete disarray. She claimed that after putting the kids to bed, she had gone to sleep herself. She said she came downstairs for a glass of water and discovered the house had been ransacked.

This seemed suspicious to us. Thankfully, we didn’t keep anything of great value at home. We only had about $400 in our room, and it was all missing.

My husband and I decided to check our entry camera before calling the police. We were horrified by what we found. The footage showed that she had lied to us. Shortly after we left, her boyfriend arrived and stayed for several hours. They both left just minutes before we returned. She looked relaxed and happy, and even kissed him at the front door.

This was clear proof that no one had broken in; it had always been just her and her boyfriend. They planned to rob us simply because we refused to pay her. My husband refuses to report this to the police because it’s his sister, but I don’t want her in my house or near my children ever again. We opened our home to her, and she betrayed us. I just don’t get it—did we do something wrong here?