The morning light crept into the loft, golden and soft as it painted the exposed brick walls and the tousled sheets of Malik and Aaliyah’s bed. The world outside buzzed faintly with the rhythm of Chicago waking up—the hum of cars on distant streets, the faint wail of a siren far away. But inside their South Side sanctuary, everything felt still, intimate, and cocooned in warmth. Malik woke first, his