Crystal Ballard (Peru Kavalieri) is the main villainess from the 2025 Lifetime film, A Home to Die For (airdate June 22, 2025).
Backstory and Introduction[]
Crystal Ballard was introduced as the best friend of author Anna Rogers (the film's main protagonist); however, their shared backstory revealed that when Anna was five years of age, she was in the backseat of a car driven by her father when he accidentally crashed into another vehicle driven by Crystal's parents. The accident killed Crystal's parents and resulted in Crystal being placed in foster care, but in the years that passed, Crystal remembered Anna, and blamed her for the loss of her parents.
In the film's events, Crystal convinced Anna (who was in the midst of a separation from her husband, David) to participate in a house swap, with the plan including a Grecian woman named Aurora moving into Anna's house, while Anna moved into Aurora's home in Athens. Unbeknownst to Anna, the swap was part of Crystal's vengeful plan, and "Aurora" was played by a woman named Sarah, who was paid $100 to pose as Aurora. After the swap was made, Crystal spies on Anna and sabotages her latest work, and after finding out that Theo--a PI hired by David--had been watching Anna, the villainess murdered Theo by strangling him to death, and afterwards, Crystal tracked down waitress Lena Burrows (a fan of Anna's) and bludgeoned her to death with a rock.
Reveal and Arrest[]
Regarding Anna, she had received a phone call that Crystal was in a coma due to an accident, with Anna being comforted by Niko and being unaware of Crystal's evil plans. The climax saw Anna attacked and knocked out, and after she woke up tied to a chair, she was surprised to see Crystal smiling wickedly as she sat across from her. The madwoman revealed that was behind everything; setting up the house swap and committing the murders, and later revealing the accident that killed her parents as her motive, while continuously blaming Anna for the death of Crystal's parents.
Crystal stated that she would take everything from Anna, and afterwards, the villainess grabbed a pair of scissors and set out on killing Anna, who fought off the villainess and was also saved by David. The pair, along with Niko, watched as Crystal was arrested, and in the film's final scene, Crystal was shown in prison reading Anna's new novel, which was based on her ordeal, and tossed it aside out of anger.
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