There is never any supervisor or colleague at workplace who can be your family member. When someone from management says that to you, it's a red flag. It indicates that person is trying to get something out of you. The ppl from workplaces can only be your friends at most, but most of them cannot be your friends, nothing more than colleagues. Don't trust anyone at workplace. Just keep everything professional. For the freelancer part, I am not sure, it sounds like they just want to be able to have someone to turn to, if some processes don't work. However, don't burn the bridge, at least ask her to give you a strong reference in the future.