Well-known Cape Town psychologist Aleksa Cloete (Sandra Prinsloo) has authored a bestseller, Love Doesn't Hurt, but despite her long, happy marriage to husband Ben (Marius Weyers), she has an entirely intellectual view of love. While growing up, their only child Christiaan (Roelof Storm) was forced to find much-needed nurturing from his 'second mother', loyal housekeeper Fy Abrahams (Shaleen Surtie-Richards). When Aleksa agrees to take part in a reality-style documentary about her breakthrough therapeutic work with women who confuse pain with love, one of her patients, Tanya Basson (Hilda Cronje), agrees to be the case study. When Ben suffers a debilitating heart attack, Tanya arrives at Aleksa's home with the news that she has killed her boyfriend during a heated row. At the same time Aleksa realises that she has misjudged the severity of Tanya's emotional state, Ben announces that he has reached a life-changing decision about the destiny of his own life. As the story unfolds, Aleksa is forced to question her integrity and confront her ability to make sacrifices for the people she cares about. Ultimately, she must confront the question: "What would love do now?"