# Chapter 23 Surprise Audit - Current Text

SURPRISES — category: character revelation / striking image — THE MOVE: `"Every one of them was the room leaving... where he'd painted the same room staying put"` (L39) — location: scene 2 — why unpredicted: the reader expects June's studies to clarify her half, not reveal that she has spent the fall painting exits from four angles — why coherent: Ch19-22 established her threshold/exit imagery and hidden work.

SURPRISES — category: character revelation — THE MOVE: `"The helpful version costs me the room"` (L87) — location: scene 4 — why unpredicted: Theo's help inventory primes a rescue offer; June names the cost of being helped instead — why coherent: Ch20-22 established June's self-owned stay, Dana room, and Theo's useful-care problem.

SURPRISES — category: plot/character turn — THE MOVE: `"We didn't sign the Suffolk place"` followed by `"We passed. For now"` (L97-L105) — why unpredicted: prior rent math made signing plausible; the couple chooses readiness over the workable number — why coherent: Priya/Ben's thread has tracked logistics replacing desire, and this reverses that mechanism.

Chapter verdict: `SURPRISES`. Weakest surviving surprise is Priya/Ben passing; it survives because a workable apartment normally resolves a housing subplot, while this beat refuses the tidiest payoff.

REVISION ORDERS: none.
