Damn, that really sucks. It really is the luck of the draw. I started at a company that just paid me an hourly rate with no promises of stock options but I could just as easily have been dragged into some kind of mess like you experienced.
That's what I started as well with this employer. I never wanted to get involved with their other project but they forced me on it. I was trying to find another employer the entire time but it was just around the time Trump got elected the first time and nobody seemingly wanted to hire
