Owen's trilemma implies the elect were forgiven before they believed — which Ephesians 2 contradicts

If the trilemma is valid and payment automatically equals forgiveness, then the elect whose sins were paid for at the cross should have been forgiven at that moment — before faith or regeneration. But Ephesians 2 says they were still children of wrath. Therefore either the trilemma is wrong, or limited atonement leads to an absurdity. The Bible clearly teaches people are saved by the cross at the moment they believe, not at the cross event itself.