Returnee boatpeople couple Ha and Son have progressed from nervous witnesses in a Hong Kong murder trial to highly successful traders in Hanoi's tiny private sector.
Their tale marks a rare returnee success story, a thriving little business selling gourmet chocolates, cheeses and wines to Hanoi's burgeoning upper classes, fuelling a lifestyle that most returnees from Hong Kong can only dream about.
But as the money rolls in, their days are marked by constant fear. The couple witnessed a fatal machete attack on inmate Dang Chong Anh at Whitehead detention centre in June 1991.
Evidence from the pair was instrumental in the convictions three years later of two teenaged cousins, both named Tran Duc Cuong. Both remain in prison in Hong Kong serving life sentences for murder but the couple fear reprisals from the killers' family and friends still in Vietnam, knowing the considerable network of links between Hanoi and Hong Kong's camps.
On one occasion an armed gang of young relatives turned up outside their house in central Hanoi but were swiftly rounded up by local police.
'Our business is going extremely well for us now,' said Mr Son, 40, who asked for his real name not to be used.
'We have managed to put everything behind us and we don't talk about the past to anyone. None of our neighbours or fellow shopkeepers know, and we just want to look ahead. The police have promised to watch out for us. I think we will be alright.