In General, a Process That Is Exothermic Is Favorably Spontaneous

In general, a process that is exothermic is favorably spontaneous. When ammonium nitrate, NH₄NO₃, is dissolved in water, the process is endothermic yet still spontaneous. Why is this process spontaneous?
Recall that there are three steps in the dissolution process. Step 1:
Solute-Solute interactions must be broken. Step 2:
Solvent-Solvent interactions must be broken. Step 3:
Solute-Solvent interactions are formed.

A) The process of separating the ammonium ions from the nitrate ions in the crystal lattice of NH₄NO₃ (step 1) is exothermic thus favoring a spontaneous process.
B) The process of separating water molecules from water molecules (step 2) is exothermic thus favoring a spontaneous process.
C) Steps 1 and 2 are both exothermic and thus the process is spontaneous.
D) The process is spontaneous because the overall solution upon mixing is more disordered than the pure substances NH₄NO₃ and water (the entropy factor) , even though the overall mixing process is endothermic.
E) None of these