# Ending-Earn Audit - Draft 0

id: ending_earn | owner: codex | tier: book
date: 2026-07-05
target: Chapters 01, 22-24 plus thread ledger

## OPENING->CLOSE

- Promise: June will choose whether to leave through the clean exit or risk painting/staying. Set up Ch 01: "My lease ends December fifteenth" and "Don't fix it."  
  TRANSFORMED - Ch 20/22/24 close this as self-owned staying, not romance rescue. Ending evidence: Ch 22 `"I'm staying, Theo. It isn't for you"`; Ch 24 she leaves with "the same material pressure: $800 due Thursday and Kessler money in March" preserved through the jar/cold walk.

- Promise: the fake public couple category will become socially and artistically consequential. Set up Ch 01: strangers relay "The last spot. You two"; Ch 03: `"That's us," June said`.  
  CLOSED - Ch 24 pays the public truth at the intended partial scale: Ruth reads `After Class` and says, "You didn't start this together"; June answers, "No. We didn't."

- Promise: Odile's first-night intervention is too exact to be accident and must be rereadable. Set up Ch 02: Odile revises "couples" to "pairs" to "partners" and writes PARK / BRENNAN into the packet system.  
  CLOSED - Ch 24 proves the night-one manipulation: `Park, J. - Brennan, T. Last slot.` June names the ethical wrong: "It worked... and it still wasn't yours to run."

- Promise: Theo must move from useful maintenance to his own work. Set up Ch 10: `"I don't know," he said... "it's all maintenance."`  
  CLOSED - Ch 21-Ch24 close this through the faced-to-wall study, the check-out form, and final restraint. Ch 22: the study "isn't evidence of anything and it doesn't fix anything"; Ch 24: "I'm not carrying anything."

- Promise: art objects will make evasion harder but will not magically rescue the characters. Set up Ch 12-Ch13 through reciprocal memories and the joint-piece assignment.  
  CLOSED - Ch 24 lets `After Class` carry pressure without replacing choice: "Two underpaintings" and Ruth's private read make the lie visible, but June still decides what is public/private.

- Promise: the cohort can become real belonging without becoming a jury. Set up Ch 04-Ch06 through Sonia's seating, Ruth's suspicion, and Sam's practical room-making.  
  TRANSFORMED - Ch 24 gives partial knowing and care, not a public trial: Mara fills the blue dish, Luis places it in the room, Ruth stops at one private line, and Sam makes room.

## LOCKED LINES

No byte-exact locked final line is declared in the reading guide. The guide locks beats instead: no grand gesture, no public confession, showcase as coda, Odile reveals she knew from first night, June stays for herself first, first snow once at end.

- no public confession - PRESENT yes / LANDS. Evidence: Ruth's low line and June's limited "No. We didn't." The cohort does not receive a speech.
- showcase as coda - PRESENT yes / LANDS. Evidence: the private confession happens in Ch 22; Ch 24 centers reception/storage/reveal rather than the first admission of love.
- Odile knew from first night - PRESENT yes / LANDS. Evidence: the September 24 list line, dry ink, and June tearing out the page.
- June stays for herself first - PRESENT yes / LANDS. Evidence: Tasker is declined in Ch 20, disclosed in Ch 22, and Ch 24 leaves money due rather than rescue.
- first snow once at end - PRESENT yes / LANDS. Evidence: Ch 24 title/close; no prior emotional rain/snow peak found.

## CALLBACK CHAIN

- `Winter Kitchen` / label correction: Ch 01 June comes for `Winter Kitchen` and corrects label truth -> Ch 24 Odile says June corrected `Winter Kitchen` / `Blue Stove`, which triggered the night-one pairing. EARNED.
- last slot / line eight: Ch 01 "The last spot. You two"; Ch 02 PARK / BRENNAN packet -> Ch 24 `Park, J. - Brennan, T. Last slot.` EARNED.
- couples/pairs/partners rule: Ch 02 crossed-out class language -> Ch 24 Odile's private proof that the rule was not neutral. EARNED.
- Mara's scarf/blue dish: Ch 03 scarf loan, Ch 18 blue dish tether -> Ch 24 dish filled with empanadas and placed in traffic. EARNED.
- Ruth's clean-exit suspicion: Ch 06 asks who June can tell if class stops being good -> Ch 20 catalog care without advice -> Ch 24 Ruth reads the truth but protects privacy. EARNED.
- hands/usefulness: Ch 10 "it's all maintenance" -> Ch 21/22 portrait terms -> Ch 24 Theo catches the train-walk/carrying reflex. EARNED.
- memory exchange / `After Class`: Ch 12 exchange, Ch 13 joint-piece subject, Ch 19 absence/stain, Ch 23 label -> Ch 24 public reading and storage. EARNED.
- catalog acknowledgment: Ch 14 all nine catalogs, Ch 17 nephew reveal, Ch 21 Odile partial -> Ch 24 larger night-one ledger proof. EARNED, with the weak caveat that the exact black spring binder appears late; the class-ledger/paperwork pattern prepares the mechanism enough.
- Tasker/Asha/Dana/Kessler: Ch 09 plants, Ch 15 prices, Ch 20 pays decision, Ch 23 follows through -> Ch 24 ending leaves $800 due and Kessler money in March. EARNED.
- portrait consent: Ch 07 off-rack study, Ch 08 faced-to-wall hiding, Ch 21 finished faced-to-wall, Ch 22 terms -> Ch 24 June turns it and turns it back. EARNED.
- first snow: reading guide lock, autumn-to-December calendar, Ch 24 literal fall. EARNED as motif; it does not overexplain.

ORPHANED-SETUP check:
- Priya/Ben Suffolk thread pays in Ch 23, so Ch 24 does not need to carry it further.
- Public nephew identity remains intentionally unexposed; this is a protected privacy choice, not an orphan.
- Future Dana/Kessler/Asha logistics remain future-life facts, not sequel-bait; the core choice is paid.

## STANDALONE/PACING

The book truly ends when June leaves after the corner kiss and Theo's restraint, not at Odile's ledger page. The final movement continues past the reveal because the novel's endpoint is not "Odile was wrong"; it is June taking the proof, setting the portrait/future terms, and leaving toward her own life.

Quoted true-ending passage: `"I'm going to walk you to the--" Theo started, and heard it... "To the corner," he said instead... "I'm not carrying anything."`

Nothing after that passage trickles explanation; the snow/corner/kiss/train movement is the settlement beat. The ending is standalone: romance, class, Odile, portrait, joint piece, cohort, and stay/leave choice are all answered; future money/work facts remain deliberately open as life continuing.

## Verdict

EARNS.

Weakest link: the exact ledger page proof is introduced in the final chapter. It earns by belonging to the book's paperwork/class-list system, but Phase 8 expansion should consider whether Ch02 or Ch21 can seed "opening-night after-hours list" or "black spring binder" by one minor, non-neon detail if cold reads find the proof abrupt.

Revision orders: none blocking. Optional expansion order if supported by Claude cold read: ADD a minor class-ledger/binder seed in Ch02 or Ch21 so the final proof is not a new object in the final minutes.
