@PriceofMagic wrote:
Just a theory but maybe Emma was struggling financially to get by when she hooked up with Henry’s father.
I thought you were going into Emma being an ex-prostitute here: need to stop reading forums when I’m half-awake. I’m sold on the idea that Henry’s dad was a criminal: resentment from this could even tie to her bail bonds job.
Emma isn’t someone who likes to admit she’s been taken for a fool so she might just pass off Henry’s father as a one night stand because it’s easier than acknowledging all the hurt he’s caused her.
We all know how good Emma is with denial! 
At seventeen, having feelings for someone, and then realizing they aren’t a great guy: I could see her jumping ship, thinking that it’s better than being left by HIM in the end. We know she’s been abandoned by parental figures multiple times in her life: could see Emma thinking that guys were all going to ditch her too, and feeling she has to be the first one out the door.