Gaja, Tenuksia's husband, stood by the fence that separated his house from Marlina’s. In a commanding tone, he threatened Marlina. “If you don’t want me to tell everyone about you borrowing our old car the other day, I want you to pay me, with all the wealth you have. I know your husband is filthy rich.”
Marlina was stunned by the threat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tenuksia standing on the upper floor of their house, watching her every move with eagle eyed precision. Marlina swallowed hard and then nodded slowly. “Alright, Gaja. Give me a few days,” she said, trying to control her voice so it didn’t sound panicked.
Gaja smirked before walking away. Marlina stood there, frozen, her body trembling with anger and fear. She had indeed borrowed the old car with an excuse and proof, but if Gaja made up a story, things would get much worse. What worried her even more was Gaja's audacity to threaten her and demand all her wealth. Were they also trying to get her valuables after failing to acquire them through witchcraft?
Marlina sat in a chair facing Tenuksia’s house. In front of her, her chubby cat, Kelabu, was flicking its tail, as if understanding its owner’s anxiety. Suddenly, Marlina’s gaze fell on something on the small table in the corner of her living room. A mini GoPro, which was often attached to the Kelabu’s collar. Marlina remembered the footage she had seen from the cat’s perspective.
In one recording, the cat had snuck into Tenuksia's house. In the video, Marlina saw something,  an intricately carved wooden chest filled with sparkling items. There were gold rings, diamond necklaces, and other jewellery that looked incredibly valuable. There were also many shelves lined with stacks of cash. Marlina knew exactly how Tenuksia had acquired all of that.
“I need to steal those things. Even if it’s stealing back stolen goods and returning them as payment for Gaja’s threat,” she whispered to herself. “This is the only way to teach them a lesson. Besides, I’ve already become a thief of my husband’s ill gotten wealth, why not do it again?”
The next evening, Marlina prepared to carry out her plan. She waited until all the lights in Tenuksia’s house were turned off, signalling that the family had gone to bed. Wearing black sportswear and carrying a large backpack, she headed down the stairs to the secret door in her basement that was almost invisible behind the wall.
Marlina chose the tunnel marked with the number 1, indicating it led to the lower part of Tenuksia’s house. She knew that all the house designs there were the same, only the owners might know, or not, about the existence of the underground rooms beneath their houses.
After walking for 10 minutes following her cat, Marlina reached a wall that looked different from the rest. She carefully shone her torch on it. The cat disappeared into a small hole in the wall. Marlina pushed, and the wall opened like a secret door. Without a plan, Marlina stepped inside. She shone her torch around the room,  it was clean and empty, never used or visited. Only dust floated, and there were many paw prints from the cat on the floor. Marlina knew this was the main passage for her cat to sneak into Tenuksia's house, apart from the kitchen window that was often left open.
Marlina climbed the stairs and pushed against the wall at the top. It turned out that the wall partition was similar to the antique wardrobe in her own house. The family here clearly didn’t know about this underground room. If they did, surely all their valuable belongings would have been stored there to avoid theft and suspicion.
Once inside the house, Marlina moved quickly but cautiously. She still remembered the location of the storage room from the GoPro footage. It was in a room near the stairs, with a window facing Marlina’s house, right into her bedroom.
Without hesitation, Marlina went to the room and opened the door, which was unlocked, probably to make it easier for the family to grab whatever they needed. Marlina looked around, seeing a scene she had only ever read about in rich fairytales as a child. Such sights were only seen in shows or in dreams of becoming wealthy.
The wealth belonging to Tenuksia and her family was probably as much as the treasure she had found in her own basement. Shelves were filled with jewellery boxes and overflowing gold bars. Piles of money, the amount impossible to calculate, and expensive antiques and paintings were scattered, making the room look as if it had just been burgled.
“With a mess like this, they won’t notice if anything goes missing,” Marlina muttered to herself. She filled her bag with gold bars and money until it was full. Once done, she slung the bag over her shoulder and left cautiously.
However, just as she was about to leave, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, and in the darkness, she saw the shadow of someone on the stairs. It was Melanko, Tenuksia’s son, staring at her with half-open eyes. Marlina pressed herself against the wall and moved slowly until she reached the antique wardrobe, which served as the secret door to the basement. Melanko seemed to head to the kitchen and turned on the lights.
Marlina quickly entered the basement after making sure the wardrobe had returned to its position.
Her heart raced, her pulse quickened. Marlina ran, followed by the cat, who had appeared from nowhere. They ran stealthily through the dark tunnel until they reached the basement of her house. She carefully closed the door, and it seemed to disappear as soon as it was shut, its texture blending with the room’s walls. Marlina walked past the neatly stacked boxes and paused briefly. She smiled knowingly, the only one aware of the contents of those boxes.
Marlina placed her bag on the table and opened it. Her eyes sparkled as she saw the wealth of Tenuksia and her family inside. Marlina knew that the family wouldn’t notice the loss of so much treasure, given the state of their storage room, which was a complete mess.
Marlina stood by the fence of her house, the one that separated it from Tenuksia’s house, holding two large shopping bags. Gaja arrived shortly after, a smile on his face. “Good, you should have given me all of this before I threatened you. It seems my fence is a protective barrier,” he said, snatching the bags from Marlina’s hands. He checked the contents with a wide grin.
Marlina understood the meaning of Gaja’s words. She was supposed to deliver the treasure to the Tenuksia family after she had placed her spell and magic in front of her house. However, the strategy didn’t work. Marlina only smiled. She had stolen from stolen goods and returned it to the family. And the fence had betrayed them. I didn’t need to cut the fence or go through your front door to return stolen treasure, stolen upon stolen, Marlina thought to herself.
“Take it all, Gaja. If you threaten me again, you watch out. I recorded all your words and actions. I’ll report you to the police later,” Marlina said, pointing to the CCTV camera on her roof, which she had just installed early this morning.
Gaja froze. But he chose to walk away from Marlina without saying anything further.