Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-860

Silvery white moonlight sprinkled on the ground as the blue and blue sky was dotted with countless small stars. The chaste moon sails like a silvery boat in the deep blue sea. The night's aroma pervaded the air, woven into a soft net, covering all the scenery inside. The gauze-like clouds floated in the sky, which seemed to hide the ethereal fairyland of its own. The distant sky was connected with the world, forming a beautiful scene of heaven and earth. The black, blue, black, and blue sky was like a piece of paper, and the stars and stars were like beautiful flowers, like a sparkling lamp, lying quietly in this black and blue.

Under the dazzling night sky, the baby shower for the soon-to-be mom of the second child, Katherine, finally arrived. This was one of the days when the Winston manor outshined the starry sky itself. The Winston manor and the compound around it glittered brightly like a magical land. The hustle and bustle of chatter, cheers of celebration, the tantalizing smell of warm stew, fry meat, and caramel desserts wafted the air. The Winston manor emitted a golden glow.

Inside the manor, the atmosphere was full of positive energy, love, and laughter. Multiple games were being played, special meals were being made, and tons of gifts were being opened by the mother-to-be, Katherine Winston. Every aspect of the baby shower was baby themed. The decorations were things such as pacifiers, rattles, and bottles, and there was even a cake made in the shape of a baby in diapers. The cake was surrounded by cupcakes that had pacifiers on them, and every dessert was a lovely shade of blue because Katherine's favorite color was blue. Adorable baby books were being passed around and filled with positive notes and pieces of advice that experienced mothers felt would help prepare Katherine for when the baby came.

Emelda was running around the main hall, supervising the works with Katherine's first baby in her arms. Katherine was the main star of the event as she sat on a throne forged and decorated by the finest blacksmiths in Elon, watching the joyous celebration before her. Her bloated belly was a symbol of love, happiness, and an upcoming blessing to her and the entire Winston family. As the Lord of the family, Ethan spent no expense on the event. Every single aspect of the baby shower was led by the best of the bests. This joyous event drew every Winston under the same roof, except for one.

While the cooks were preparing the feast, Ethan and Diana were inside the rooms, preparing their own gifts for Katherine and Andrews. Diana combed her striking golden hair standing before the mirror. Ethan saw the despair hiding deep within Diana's eyes in the reflection. She was better than hiding her true emotions, but Ethan knew her better than anyone to see what was inside her heart.

"Did you make sure the arrays are in place and the guards are on alert?" Diana asked. Her voice was far from relaxed and sounded serious as hell.

"For God's sake Dian, I personally checked everything. Nothing bad is gonna happen today. Will you please relax?" Ethan walked behind Diana and placed his hands on her shoulder. He gently squeezed, reassuring her that nothing would happen today.

"I don't know, Ethan. I have a bad feeling about this," Diana's brows arched up as she slowly turned around.

"Look Dian," Ethan cupped Diana's face and looked her in the eyes.

"Rowena and Noah are here. No one can do any harm to our family when they are here. I thought you'd be more worried that he wouldn't be here with all of us, as a family,"

Diana shook her head,

"It's better he isn't. The last time Katherine was pregnant, he threatened to kill her and the baby," Diana sighed.

"You know he didn't mean that," said Ethan.

"Of course, I know he didn't mean it, but we cannot take his side without revealing the truth. I just hope one day, we'll all celebrate something together, as a family," Diana's voice stuttered because, as far as she could tell, the chances of their happy family reunion were little to nothing. Still, Diana had hope and faith in a higher power.

"My Lord, My Lady," Samuel knocked on the door,

"Young Master Noah is home,"

Diana and Ethan felt a bit relieved and smiled when they heard Samuel.

"We'll be there in a minute," Ethan answered Samuel and sent him away.

"We should go," Diana nodded as she put a strand of hair hanging on her face behind her ear. The two of them left the room and headed to the main hall to join the rest of the family. Everyone in the hall turned their gazes toward the lord and lady of the family walking down the stairs together. They saw Sabrina, their youngest child standing between Rowena and Noah. Looking at the three of them, Ethan and Diana imagined Michael standing behind them.

"Father, mother," The three of them bowed toward Diana and Ethan, showing their respect. After the three bowed, Andrews walked to Noah's side and greeted Diana and Ethan with an ear-to-ear grin.

"There you are," Emelda rushed to Diana's side with Andrew's boy in her hand. When she came to Diana's side, the boy reached out to Ethan.

"Ggpaaaa," the boy mumbled as Ethan took the chubby little boy in his arms.

"My little minion likes me so much huh," Ethan said in a playful voice while rubbing the boy's cuddly belly.

"How was your trip to the treacherous ocean?" Diana asked Noah.

"Couldn't find what I was looking for. But I heard someone has lifted the curse from the princess," Noah emphasized the word someone as though he knew exactly who lifted the curse.

"At Least someone was there to help the princess," Diana said with a gentle smile. Then, she walked toward Katherine with her children following her behind. Rowena remained calm as ever, looking around the hall. On the other hand, Sabrina's thoughts drifted off to a distance.

"I hope the price for the help was worth it," said Noah. The moment Noah laid his eyes on King Porter and the Queen, he knew they had struck a deal with the Dark Lord to cure their daughter. To be honest, Noah didn't blame the king or take action against the king for colluding with the Dark Lord, even though Noah could have. He just hoped the price for curing their daughter was worth it.

"Saving one's child is always worth any price, Noah. You will know this when something happens to your own," said Diana.

"Where is Samuel?" Rowena asked Diana after looking around the hall for their butler.

"He went to Icefair to get something for me," Emelda answered Rowena from behind.

"I won't let anything happen to our family, mother," said Noah.

Without uttering a word, Diana bent down, grabbed a handful of sandal paste, and smeared it on Katherine's cheeks.

"Praying for a safe and healthy delivery for both you and baby," Diana wished Katherine before walking out of the main hall to get some peace. Ever since she returned to her own self, Diana sought more privacy and some alone time. The crowd made her uneasy for some reason. As they exited the main hall, they stepped into Diana's garden. Except for a couple of guards, no one was in the garden as Diana ordered.

The four of them peacefully strolled through the garden and settled around a stone table.

"You seem different mother," Rowena said when Diana sat on the stone bench.

"So it wasn't just me who felt that way," Noah smiled.

As they were gathered around the table, a couple of maids carried a silver platter with orange juice and placed the glasses on the table.

"Thank you dear," Diana dismissed the maids as each picked up a glass to quench their thirst, except Sabrina.

"Something in your mind, Sabi?" Diana asked, avoiding Rowena's remark about something different about her.

Sabrina moved the glass back and forth without answering Diana.

"Sabrina," Rowena's voice made Sabrina snap back to reality. They all turned their gazes at Sabrina.

"Do you have something to tell us, Sabi?" asked Diana. Because Diana was busy tracking down people who tried to conspire against Noah and Michael behind their backs, she neglected her duties as a mother and the lady of the house. Thanks to Emelda, no one noticed Diana's absence and her neglect. The one who was affected more by her absence was Sabrina. Unlike Noah and Rowena, Sabrina spent most of her time cultivating in Winston manor. Wherever she looked for Diana, she would be outside, murdering people. But to the members of Winston manor, Diana was meditating in her room.

"I had a bad dream last night. That's all," said Sabrina.

"What is the dream about?" Noah asked Sabrina.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Just as Sabrina was about to tell them about her dream, Emelda's scream resonated from the main hall. Noah immediately stood up, knocking out the glasses in the process. Diana's instinct kicked in as she moved with lightning speed to catch all the glasses before they could hit the ground and shatter into pieces.

'

But Noah and Sabrina didn't notice this as they dashed into the main hall. Rowena, on the other hand, glanced at Diana for a moment before disappearing from the garden. In a blink of an eye, Rowena appeared in the main hall right beside Katherine. As soon as Noah stepped into the hall, his heart skipped a beat.

"Father!" Sabrina screamed, looking at Ethan. He was on the ground, holding his gut as blood oozed through his hand. Everyone was stunned and speechless. Noah's body began to shiver as he sat beside his father and raised his head to place it on his lap. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Noah took out a healing potion. He poured the potion into Ethan's mouth without asking any questions. The sudden explosion of killing intent around Rowena made everyone in the hall collapse, including Katherine.

Rowena's gaze swept across the hall to find whoever was responsible for her father's state and found a human sized hole in the cake they bought for Katherine. Whoever stabbed Ethan was hiding inside the cake until he or she ambushed Ethan.

"Ethan," Rowena turned her gaze at Diana, who stammered toward Ethan and dropped to her knees before him. Her eyes turned red as tears rolled out.

"Father," Noah emptied the healing potion, but the wound did not close up as he desperately hoped.

Diana's mouth dried as she saw green veins running through Ethan's neck like spider webs.

"It's not working," Noah clenched his fist as he took out another healing potion and tried to force it into Ethan's mouth. For the first time in his life, Noah couldn't think straight. His mind went completely blank seeing his father on the verge of death.

"He's cursed," Sabrina mumbled.