Crystal was an only child, raised by her single mother for a number of years until Crystal's mother, Kristina, met and married, Riverland "River" Delinquez, Sr. Suddenly, Crystal (age 11) found herself with an older brother (Tonio, 14) from Riverland's previous marriage and a younger brother on the way (her mother was pregnant with River Jr.). Crystal and Tonio had a combative relationship because he didn't want his father with her mother. Tonio thought Kristina was a wacko for having these so-called visions of the future, which constantly pitted the stepsiblings against one another. Tonio also received a lot of flack from the guys on his football team when Kristina's visions begin to grab media attention (Kristina used her gift to assist the Chicago PD in several murder cases. Also, because she couldn't control when and where her visions occured, she was unable to predict the emotional and physical toll a vision might have on her while she was out in public. Imagine being a 14-year old boy and seeing your stepmother cling to ground in the middle of dinner, moaning for her visions to stop as people stared... not one of Tonio's fondest moments). As a result, Tonio grew resentful of his stepmother and there relationship was strained. It wasn't until after Tonio was returned home safely following his kidnapping on his 16th birthday that he finally accepted Kristina and her gift (Kristina had been haunted by clouded visions of a kidnapping, a baby cries and burning candles a year after the birth of River Jr., and only figured out that the visions were about Tonio the night before his 16th birthday party). So it became quite difficult for Tonio to deny that Crystal's mother did have the ability to see into the future. He and Crystal eventually became close siblings and allies once he redeemed himself by putting his teammates in their proper place concerning Kristina. Unfortunately, tragedy would strike in the coming months when Kristina would contract an pneumonia, and pass away less than a week later.
The next three years were tough for the Delinquez family as Crystal fought through depression and the rest of the family tried to walk through life without Kristina. School was actually a great distraction for Tonio and Crystal, who both had regular sessions with the school counselor to discuss how they were dealing with their lost. While Tonio stopped after a few months, Crystal continued throughout her freshman and sophomore year of high school before taking an active role in the Business Club. Within another year, Tonio graduated from high school and was recruited by York University to play pro football in Toronto, Canada. Although he hated to move so far away from home, his family knew that this was a great opportunity for him and convinced him to take it. Eventually Crystal, herself, graduated from high school, but she decided to stick close to home. While in college, she met and married Javier Sanchez within two years, with some resistance from her stepfather, who thought the relationship was going too fast. Upon graduating, Crystal snagged a job with Fantasy Inc. as Assistant Director of Marketing and Planning. Her boss, Billy Clyde, was so impressed with her level of work that he promoted her to Executive Director of Marketing Affairs when his former one suddenly up and quit. Crystal's new title, however, demanded a lot of more of her time, which she didn't mind because she enjoyed what she was doing, but it cut into the amount of time she could spend being a wife to her husband. To make matters more difficult, Javier wanted to adopt since he was biologically unable to father a child, but Crystal didn't feel like this was the right time at this point in their lives. However, Javier continued to press her about it and she agreed to consider the idea, not knowing that Javier already had someone lined up for the task.
As Crystal and Billy's work nights became later and later working on a new product, something begin to change in their relationship. Despite attempts to deny their sexual attraction, Billy and Crystal eventually gave into their animal desire. Following her tryst, Javier decided to come clean about finding a possible parent willing to adopt, making it difficult for Crystal to admit that she was unfaithful to him. Instead, she resolved to cut back on her hours and give this baby thing a go. Of course, what she didn't predict was that their adoptive child would be from the wife of none other than her boss, Billy Clyde, who was equally floored to see that Crystal and Javier were the eager parents Angela had been bragging about. It wasn't long before Angela and Javier realized their respective spouses already knew each other. "Small world," they thought. Pity they would find out just how small when Billy became more distant with his wife and Angela began to suspect that there was someone else. Angela eventually piece together that the "someone else" was Crystal after catching them in a few awkward moments. Billy opted for honesty, and admitted that he and Crystal had slept together once, but that was it. Not that it made much of a difference, it was like the final straw in their teetering marriage. Still, it made Angela sick to her stomach to know the woman who would end up raising her son was with her husband. Distraught over his betrayal, she left Billy's office for solitude, only to run into Javier, who could see she was visibly upset. Too emotionally wrecked to think, she let it slip to Javier that her husband had been unfaithful with Crystal. This lead to a violent confrontation between Billy and Javier that climaxed to the roof of Fantasy Inc., where Angela attempted to separate the two, only to fall victim - literally - to one of their miscalculated punches. Angela and her unborn baby died upon impact. Once Crystal learned of the events leading to Angela's demise, she begged for Javier's forgiveness and agreed to cut all ties with Billy and Fantasy Inc. However, Javier was still wrestling with his own guilt over what happened to Angela and the child he and Crystal would raise as there own, plus his anger over her affair with a married man that Javier had welcomed into his home. Despite remaining civil and commital, Javier could not bring himself to be intimate with Crystal without picturing her and Billy together having sex, thinking what fools he and Angela were. It got to the point that Crystal didn't know if there was anything substantial left fighting for. After all, if she loved Javier unconditionally, how could she sleep with Billy? Within a month, the two mutually agreed to a divorce before Crystal decided to move to another state for a fresh start.
In Hallandale, Massachusetts, Crystal found Taneia Ralston, an old friend from middle school, who she shared her extramarital woes with. Figuring a promising business venture would do Crystal's heart good, Taneia suggested that she and Crystal go into business together, seeing a need for a good-old fashion restaurant that could catered to common folk. There was one problem, however: they didn't have enough capital. Then entered Earl Pryce, who agreed to invest in the project as long as he remained a silent partner. That stipulation would be broken in time as Taneia and Crystal encountered a rocky period in their partnership after almost two years of running the restaurant. The tension coincided with the cancellation of Taneia's engagement to Kyle Pierre. Business was also going slow and Crystal attributed that to Taneia's lack of focus since Kyle called off their engagement and flew the coop. Every time Crystal made a request and/or demand, Taneia became more annoyed. Growing tired of the constant supervision and questioning of her authority, Taneia sought to terminate the partnership and get full control over the restaurant. However, their silent partner, Earl Pryce, would not stand for it and cut ties with both of them, sick of being caught in the middle of their constant bickering. Crystal was then left to deal with Taneia, her psychic flashes and the twisted Laura Sedwick.
Laura blamed Crystal for her sister's (Angela) death and wanted her to pay. However, Laura made the mistake of trying to get to Crystal through the restaurant and Taneia was none to happy to learn of the woman's shenanigans. When Crystal confided in then co- worker, Darron Wolek, about Taneia going after Laura, he thought it would be best if they intervened. Unfortunately, Laura and Taneia's path had already crossed, and there was little Crystal, Darron or Romain (who Laura had a fling with) could do to calm down the irrational woman, who ignited a bomb that blew up Blanchencore Hospital, leaving Crystal and Romain assumed dead.
Crystal was later discovered to be alive and recuperating in a hospital in Springfield, her faced badly scarred from the explosion. With surgery, she was able to remove most of the scar tissue. At that time, Laura Sedwick escaped from police custody and got wind of Crystal's whereabouts, proceeding to the hospital, where she kidnapped Crystal and held her hostage in an abandon old cave. After having her way with her (she repeatedly stabbed Crystal with a knife), Laura left her enemy to bleed to death. Fortunately for Crystal, Darron and Romain figured out where Laura would have taken her and brought her out to safety. After Laura's accidental death, Taneia and Crystal reconciled their differences and were able to finally co- exist with one another. But it seemed that Crystal's past wouldn't rest. Billy Clyde, the married man she had an affair with years ago, was interested in merging his company (Fantasy Inc.) with Crystal's restaurant. Billy wasn't the only manly attention she would contend with: her ex-husband also made a trip to Hallandale, courtesy of Taneia. Unfortunately for Crystal, it developed into a very messy situation because Javier was unable to get past his resentment of Billy. Sick of Javier's attitude toward her and Billy, Crystal ordered him to stay away from her and the restaurant until he could learn the art of civility. Soon after giving Javier the boot, Crystal agreed to the business merger.
During the night of their grand opening, an angry Javier, feeling like an outsider, shot Billy point blank while he was on the rooftop with Crystal. Billy was rushed to the hospital and within hours, lost all ability to breathe on his own and was placed on emergency respiratory support. When a miracle finally happened and Billy was able to breathe on his own, the truth of his shooting began to unravel, starting with Billy's vocal suspicions that Javier was behind the hit. Crystal refused to believe it and accused Billy of being blinded by past mistakes. Billy, realizing that it was too much for Crystal to take, recanted everything he said. The next morning though, he disappeared from the hospital. Crystal, fearing he went after Javier, decided to run after him, but was stopped by Dana and Matthew. Dana and Matthew informed Crystal of their special connection to the universe and tried to help her regain use of her psychic flashes in order to locate Billy. Matt and Dana's determination paid off, Crystal received a psychic flash foretelling of a showdown between Javier and Billy at Javier's place. When Crystal arrived at Javier's place, she learned that Billy's suspicions were right and let Javier have it. Javier, depressed over what he had done and dishearten by the disgust and hurt in Crystal's eyes, took his own life, hoping that it would give him and Crystal the peace they needed. Contrary to what he hoped, Crystal went into deep depression and lashed out at Billy for being glad that Javier was dead. Adding more stress to their relationship, FBI Agent Nich Blaine started investigating Javier's death for possible foul play. However, because he could not find enough sufficient evidence to collaborate his suspicions, he later ruled Javier's death a suicide. Billy's mother was the one that was finally able to get through to Crystal and convince her to reconcile things with Billy. Immediately following their reconciliation, they were thrown into a whole new set of problems when Alfonso Morgan informed them that he was leaving the company and Hallandale for an exciting opportunity in Seattle. Despite being upset by his reasons for leaving, Crystal and Billy both wished him luck. Recently, Crystal had a vision of a tragic death in Hallandale resulting from the Blackadder36 virus.
