No Alternative

Dalisay's pov,

"So, even though we've sold both Mansions, we're still in a financial hole?" I asked, wanting to make sure I was understanding her correctly.

I took a deep breath as I tried to process what the financial secretary was saying. The financial report she was presenting was more grim than I could have imagined. It seemed that, despite our efforts, we were still in dire straits.

"That's correct," she said, her face serious. "We need to find a way to generate more revenue and cut costs if we're going to get out of this situation."

"That sounds like an uphill battle," I said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry ma'am. But the truth is, we've been operating on a shoestring budget for months now. We used up all our reserves and then started dipping into our emergency funds. And now, we're still a billion dollars short," the financial secretary explained.

"What? A billion dollars short?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "How did this happen?"

"It's a combination