Ethan Cole was originally a financially‑struggling student at Havenport University. Following an accident, he awakened X‑ray vision. He built up his initial capital successively through treasure‑appraising, reading stock‑market trends, and making calculations at casinos, gradually escaping poverty. Along the way, he formed intricate, deep‑seated bonds with Ava, Sienna, Annie and Vivian.
Amid the Drake family's crisis of illness and bloodline, the Whitmore family's capital siege, and the seven‑day countdown, Ethan drew on his X‑ray vision to see through curses, pharmaceutical formulas and financial opportunities. He restructured Drake Ventures, Cole Capital and the Cole Group. After successive family conflicts, commercial showdowns and manhunts by antagonists, he completed his rags‑to‑riches rise from an impoverished student to the world's wealthiest man.