diff --git a/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs b/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
index cfb07403..8243f109 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs
@@ -122,6 +122,52 @@ pub struct SessionMetadata {
     /// Optional mode label (agent/plan/etc.)
     #[serde(default)]
     pub mode: Option<String>,
+    /// Accumulated cost data for persisted billing and high-water mark.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub cost: SessionCostSnapshot,
+}
+
+/// Cost and high-water-mark fields persisted with each session.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Default, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct SessionCostSnapshot {
+    /// Accumulated parent-turn session cost in USD.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub session_cost_usd: f64,
+    /// Accumulated parent-turn session cost in CNY.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub session_cost_cny: f64,
+    /// Accumulated sub-agent/background LLM cost in USD.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub subagent_cost_usd: f64,
+    /// Accumulated sub-agent/background LLM cost in CNY.
+    #[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 SessionCostSnapshot {
+    /// Session + subagent cost in USD.
+    pub fn total_usd(&self) -> f64 {
+        self.session_cost_usd + self.subagent_cost_usd
+    }
+
+    /// Session + subagent cost in CNY.
+    pub fn total_cny(&self) -> f64 {
+        self.session_cost_cny + self.subagent_cost_cny
+    }
+}
+
+impl SessionMetadata {
+    /// Copy cost fields from another metadata (used when forking a session).
+    pub fn copy_cost_from(&mut self, other: &SessionMetadata) {
+        self.cost = other.cost;
+    }
 }
 
 /// A saved session containing full conversation history
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/sidebar.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/sidebar.rs
index fec8c63e..16202c5f 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/sidebar.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/sidebar.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ use super::history::{HistoryCell, ToolCell, ToolStatus};
 use super::subagent_routing::active_fanout_counts;
 use super::ui::truncate_line_to_width;
 
+/// Tolerance for floating-point cost comparison in the sidebar breakdown.
+/// Must be large enough that accumulated f64 error across hundreds of turns
+/// does not prematurely hide the session+agents breakdown.
+const COST_EQ_TOLERANCE: f64 = 1e-6;
+
 pub fn render_sidebar(f: &mut Frame, area: Rect, app: &App) {
     if area.width < 24 || area.height < 8 {
         // Paint a styled block over the area so stale cells from a previous
@@ -674,7 +679,11 @@ fn render_context_panel(f: &mut Frame, area: Rect, app: &App) {
     let total_cost = app.displayed_session_cost_for_currency(app.cost_currency);
     let session_cost = app.session_cost_for_currency(app.cost_currency);
     let agent_cost = app.subagent_cost_for_currency(app.cost_currency);
-    lines.push(Line::from(Span::styled(
+    let real_total = session_cost + agent_cost;
+    // Only show the additive breakdown when it matches the displayed
+    // total; when the high-water mark is in effect (post-reconciliation),
+    // the breakdown would not sum to the displayed value (#244).
+    let cost_line = if (displayed_total - real_total).abs() < COST_EQ_TOLERANCE {
         format!(
             "cost: {} (session {} + agents {})",
             app.format_cost_amount(total_cost),
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
index f6bb984c..bb3179cf 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
@@ -6256,8 +6256,17 @@ fn apply_loaded_session(app: &mut App, session: &SavedSession) -> bool {
     app.session.subagent_cost = 0.0;
     app.session.subagent_cost_cny = 0.0;
     app.session.subagent_cost_event_seqs.clear();
-    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water = 0.0;
-    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water_cny = 0.0;
+    // 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 = session.metadata.cost.total_usd();
+    let total_restored_cny = session.metadata.cost.total_cny();
+    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water =
+        session.metadata.cost.displayed_cost_high_water_usd.max(total_restored_usd);
+    app.session.displayed_cost_high_water_cny =
+        session.metadata.cost.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;