Jameelah is studying her way out of urban Baltimore. She falls for James, a drug dealer. Incarceration can't separate them, and they get married. When reunited the relationship becomes volatile and erupts, Jameelah stabs James five times in a fit of rage.

Courtney Ross (Larson) is a deaf woman from North Carolina who moved across the country to be with her boyfriend. When that relationship failed, she meets Jonathan, who is also deaf. They get married, but their honeymoon is short-lived. When Courtney learns Jonathan has another woman, she stabs him to death.

Sherrse Gaines falls for her first love, Greg, but after he cheats on her, she leaves him for her new boyfriend Steve. Sherrse's relationship with Steve is rocky, and when she tries to break up with him, Steve turns violent. Sherrse stabs him with scissors, but the charges against her are dropped when Steve shoots up her car.

Annette Valdez (Hernandez) is a schizophrenic and drug addict. When she and her boyfriend Cameron find out she is pregnant, they get clean, but Annette's demons return and the couple breaks up. Annette begins a new relationship with her younger lover Tony, but a fight turns deadly when Annette stabs him twice.

Julia Decatur-Schrader (Monica Fairview) is a divorced mother when she meets her husband at a bar. The couple live lavishly due to his income, but their relationship is troubled. Due to her extravagant lifestyle, Julia stays with him, but one confrontations ends with violence when she knifes him in the back and is sentenced to 8 years.

Lydia Salce was a single mother working as an administrator at Walmart when she met her husband Michael McKee, a biker who served time in prison for arson and robbery. Lydia falls for Mike and they marry, but six months later, their marriage leads to bloodshed when Mike returns home drunk, and an angry Lydia stabs him repeatedly.

Crystal Johnson is a young wife who is institutionalized due to severe postpartum depression after her daughter's birth. After her release, she works as a stripper, where she meets Lawrence and has a son with him. When he tries to leave her, she stabs him, and her violent history repeats itself with her subsequent lover, Jordan.

Carol Singh and her family emigrated from Suriname to New York for new opportunities and a better life. Her family moves next door to a young man named Dave, who becomes Carol's boyfriend. However, when an argument between them turns violent, Carol stabs Dave, and she is convicted of manslaughter.