It can happen if you’re not in control.
In this case, you were very much not in control.
You know the saying “don’t bring up what you can’t put down” to paraphrase? Well that’s a very boring way to live your life, so instead what you should do is research your relationship with the entity in question before any work is done and then choosing where to go from there.
That’s not something you can read about in a book, so use your own abilities to feel it out.