diff --git a/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs b/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
index 0149cfd2..f3212d24 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ pub struct SessionMetadata {
     /// Accumulated sub-agent/background LLM cost in CNY (for persisted billing).
     #[serde(default)]
     pub subagent_cost_cny: f64,
+    /// Max-ever displayed session+subagent cost in USD (preserves #244
+    /// monotonic guarantee across session restarts).
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub displayed_cost_high_water_usd: f64,
+    /// Max-ever displayed session+subagent cost in CNY.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub displayed_cost_high_water_cny: f64,
 }
 
 impl SessionMetadata {
@@ -117,6 +124,8 @@ impl SessionMetadata {
         self.session_cost_cny = other.session_cost_cny;
         self.subagent_cost_usd = other.subagent_cost_usd;
         self.subagent_cost_cny = other.subagent_cost_cny;
+        self.displayed_cost_high_water_usd = other.displayed_cost_high_water_usd;
+        self.displayed_cost_high_water_cny = other.displayed_cost_high_water_cny;
     }
 }
 
@@ -606,6 +615,8 @@ pub fn create_saved_session_with_mode(
             session_cost_cny: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_usd: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_cny: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_usd: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_cny: 0.0,
         },
         messages: capped_messages,
         system_prompt: merge_truncation_note(
@@ -877,6 +888,8 @@ mod tests {
                 session_cost_cny: 0.0,
                 subagent_cost_usd: 0.0,
                 subagent_cost_cny: 0.0,
+                displayed_cost_high_water_usd: 0.0,
+                displayed_cost_high_water_cny: 0.0,
             },
             system_prompt: None,
             context_references: Vec::new(),
@@ -907,6 +920,8 @@ mod tests {
                 session_cost_cny: 0.0,
                 subagent_cost_usd: 0.0,
                 subagent_cost_cny: 0.0,
+                displayed_cost_high_water_usd: 0.0,
+                displayed_cost_high_water_cny: 0.0,
             },
             system_prompt: None,
             context_references: Vec::new(),
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
index 362925f9..71977d46 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/app.rs
@@ -1655,6 +1655,8 @@ impl App {
         metadata.session_cost_cny = self.session.session_cost_cny;
         metadata.subagent_cost_usd = self.session.subagent_cost;
         metadata.subagent_cost_cny = self.session.subagent_cost_cny;
+        metadata.displayed_cost_high_water_usd = self.session.displayed_cost_high_water;
+        metadata.displayed_cost_high_water_cny = self.session.displayed_cost_high_water_cny;
     }
 
     /// Recompute the displayed cost high-water mark. Called any time a cost
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/session_picker.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/session_picker.rs
index 61b257b1..84a4200c 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/session_picker.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/session_picker.rs
@@ -615,6 +615,8 @@ mod tests {
             session_cost_cny: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_usd: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_cny: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_usd: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_cny: 0.0,
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
index e2503be7..f91ff57e 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
@@ -6068,12 +6068,17 @@ fn apply_loaded_session(app: &mut App, session: &SavedSession) -> bool {
     app.session.subagent_cost = session.metadata.subagent_cost_usd;
     app.session.subagent_cost_cny = session.metadata.subagent_cost_cny;
     app.session.subagent_cost_event_seqs.clear();
-    // Set high-water marks to the restored totals so the footer never
-    // reverses when reconciliation events fire on a resumed session.
+    // Restore the high-water marks from persisted metadata so the
+    // monotonic cost guarantee (#244) survives session restarts.
+    // Take the max with the current totals — old sessions without
+    // persisted high-water fields deserialise to 0.0 and fall back to
+    // the restored total with no regression.
     let total_restored_usd = app.session.session_cost + app.session.subagent_cost;
     let total_restored_cny = app.session.session_cost_cny + app.session.subagent_cost_cny;
-    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water = total_restored_usd;
-    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water_cny = total_restored_cny;
+    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water =
+        session.metadata.displayed_cost_high_water_usd.max(total_restored_usd);
+    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water_cny =
+        session.metadata.displayed_cost_high_water_cny.max(total_restored_cny);
     app.session.last_prompt_tokens = None;
     app.session.last_completion_tokens = None;
     app.session.last_prompt_cache_hit_tokens = None;
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
index 8a307adb..c6aa424c 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
@@ -699,6 +699,8 @@ fn saved_session_with_messages(messages: Vec<Message>) -> SavedSession {
             session_cost_cny: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_usd: 0.0,
             subagent_cost_cny: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_usd: 0.0,
+            displayed_cost_high_water_cny: 0.0,
         },
         messages,
         system_prompt: None,